Pedro Munhoz kept things professional when he fought Cody Garbrandt at UFC 235, but things are clearly personal ahead of his bantamweight matchup with Aljamain Sterling on Saturday.
After Sterling said in April that the USADA should test Munhoz "properly" ahead of their UFC 238 showdown - referencing the latter's UFC Fight Night 54 win in 2014 that was controversially overturned to a no-contest due to unusual levels of testosterone - Munhoz responded with anger.
"(Sterling) says something that's not a fact," he told theScore. "It was before USADA. We have the chain of custody when it happened. It was a long battle that went back and forth.
"Since then, I've been tested 25 times. Samples were for blood, EPO, things like that. I think he's just giving excuses for the beating he's going to get on June 8. I don't like that kind of stuff, you want to promote the fight, yeah go ahead. ... after he said (the comments) it was literally week a week later, I got mail from USADA saying I was 25 times tested. I was like 'Here, you're a f---ing scumbag. So like, what are you talking about?'"
Munhoz (18-3) knows a potential title shot will be on the line this Saturday, which is why he's hoping to put on a dominant performance against the "Funk Master."
"I know he's gonna just be running and try to grapple me, avoiding the fight, because, you know, he's scared. It's a bad fight for him, you know," Munhoz said. "He's gonna try to wrestle me, great, so I'm gonna take your head out. You're gonna do jiu-jitsu on me, great. You're gonna stand with me, you know, I'm gonna knock you out."
Munhoz added that he would like to step in if either Henry Cejudo or Marlon Moraes are forced to withdraw from their vacant bantamweight title fight at UFC 238.
"If something happens the week of the fight or something, you know, for me it's not a big issue making 135 (pounds)," he said.
UFC 238 will take place this Saturday at United Center in Chicago, with Cejudo set to battle Moraes in the main event.
Watch the full interview with Munhoz below and subscribe to theScoreMMA Youtube channel here.
