Jaime Munguia kept his super middleweight title Saturday in Riyadh, outworking previously unbeaten Nikita Zon over 12 rounds for a unanimous decision in the co-main event of Canelo Alvarez vs. Christian Mbilli at Kingdom Arena. Two judges had it 117-111 and the third scored it 116-112, according to MMA Fighting’s live results.
One housekeeping note on the belt. MiddleEasy reported the title as the WBA super middleweight strap, while MMA Mania’s fight-week preview listed it as Munguia’s WBO title. Whatever the letters, Munguia walked out with it.
The co-main started late. MMA Fighting’s live blog said the walkouts came after an hour-long delay while the card waited for Turki Alalshikh to arrive. Once Tony Weeks got them going, the fight never really cooled off. Munguia dug to the body from the first exchange, and Zon, a southpaw, kept trying to pin him in corners and work straight punches upstairs. Weeks had to settle both men down in Round 1 after Zon hit the body following a break and Munguia answered with a left hook. Midway through the fight, Alexander K. Lee posted on X: “oh Munguía and Zon are SCRAPPIN.”
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Round 5 nearly ended it for Munguia. He wobbled Zon late, came forward hunting, and the bell got there first. Then Round 6 flipped everything. Zon landed a left uppercut that rocked Munguia, and Munguia went to a knee while off balance. Weeks waved off a knockdown. Zon stayed on him along the ropes, and Munguia stumbled again before finding enough to fire back a flurry. MMA Fighting scored that round 10-8 for the challenger, which tightened its card to 57-56 Munguia.
And that was Zon’s fight. From Round 7 on, his output dropped off a cliff while Munguia went back to the body, round after round, head-head-body, cracking hooks to the ribs to close Round 11. Zon shoved Munguia to the canvas in Round 10, which did nothing for him on the cards. By the 12th, Munguia was coasting but still throwing, and he rattled Zon with a short right near the ropes. MMA Fighting had it 117-110.
Where they stand
Munguia came in 46-2, a fighter with heavy volume, a body attack and a known habit of leaving himself open while he throws, as MMA Mania’s preview put it. He’s also gone the full distance with Canelo. He leaves Riyadh 47-2.
Zon arrived at 12-0-1, and MMA Mania noted he had not yet scored a knockout win and had never faced anyone close to Munguia’s level. He’s now 12-1-1. Both men made weight easily on Friday, Munguia at 167.4 and Zon at 167.5.
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None of the sources reported a next opponent for either fighter. Alalshikh celebrated the win on X shortly after the result, though his English caption called the loser “Nikita Tszyu,” which is a different fighter entirely.
My take: Zon had Munguia hurt and stumbling in the sixth and then spent the next half hour waiting for a second chance that was never going to come on its own. The body work Munguia banked early is what kept his legs under him late and what drained Zon’s gas tank. That uppercut was real, and Zon should get another meaningful fight off it. But a 12-round title fight asks for 12 rounds, and he brought about six.
