Kris Moutinho returns to the UFC on Saturday after he became a viral sensation back in 2021 when he accepted a short notice opportunity to face Sean O’Malley in a wild scrap that ended up earning Fight of the Night honors. Sadly, after losing that fight and then dropping one more to Guido Cannetti eight months later, he was released from the UFC roster.
It turns out while he was embraced and adored for his fan-friendly style inside the cage, the now 32-year-old bantamweight was in a very dark place in his personal life.
“I went through a really bad time with relationships, with everything else in my life and I was just a mess,” Moutinho said during UFC Atlanta media day. “I was very close to ending this thing, ending it all and being done.
“I don’t want to talk too much about it but it was a bad time. One of the worst times in my life. I found the girl I’m with now, my beautiful girlfriend, she saved me. Saved my life. Helped me find God a lot better and I’m just in a better place.”
While he certainly appreciates that he got the chance to fight in the UFC previously, Moutinho admits probably wasn’t in the right head space to find success during his brief stint with the promotion.
Following his exit, Moutinho hit the reset button and started grinding away again on the regional circuit where he eventually racked up five wins in a row with four finishes. He wasn’t necessarily banging the drum to get back to the UFC but when the call came, he was very quick to accept the chance to come back with a fight booked against top prospect Malcolm Wellmaker on Saturday.
“I feel like I’m where God put me, where I’m supposed to be,” Moutinho said. “I feel like this is the guy that should have been here in 2021. The guy that is mentally focused, enjoys this stuff again.
“[Back] then, I was just going through the motions and I was happy to be here but I was kind of just happy to be here. I’m not that guy no more. I don’t care. I’m coming to kill. I’m coming to knock him out. He has to kill me to get me out of there.”
Moutinho’s relationship with combat sports has also dramatically changed over the past few years and he believes that’s going to show in the octagon in his return.
For both of his previous fights in the UFC, Moutinho says he was only concerned with putting on a show but those memorable wars ultimately ended with back-to-back losses. Now he plans to rectify that with his performance against Wellmaker, although he still has a tendency to put on ultra-exciting fights.
“This sport in the 12 years, 13 years that I’ve been doing it, it’s taken a lot from me,” Moutinho said. “I care less I guess about this sport and less about what I’m doing and that’s somehow freed me to enjoy it more when I am in there and when I am training and when I am fighting. I got back to what I did when I started this stuff. Mixing the game.
“I got a little too punch crazy and I wanted to throw punches and get hit by punches and I enjoyed it a little too much, didn’t pan out well when I was here the last time. I’m just opening my game up a little bit, worked on the flaws that I had last time and just a more complete fighter now.”
In a strange way, Moutinho’s return to the UFC is almost a carbon copy of his first fight with the promotion because he’s once again taking a short notice opportunity against a highly touted prospect.
As much as he appreciates the love he got after the battle against O’Malley four years ago, Moutinho is understandably hoping for a much different outcome this time.
“It’s a little bit déjà vu,” Moutinho said. “It’s pretty much the same thing that happened last time. I’m fighting a tall, lanky good striker on nine days’ notice. It feels pretty similar. I’m a different person than I was then. I’m a lot older, a lot more at peace with myself and where I’m at in life. Hopefully it’s going to be a better show.
“I think Malcolm’s a great fighter. He’s 9-0 for a reason. He’s a powerful guy, has power in both hands, he looks to counter a lot. He might change, he could do something completely different this time but again a lot of his fights, he counters and looks for the big hooks and he can wrestle, he can grapple, he can do everything. I expect what I do very well is put pressure, control the pace of the fight and use my wrestling here and there and do what I’m supposed to do.”
With a stoic, focused look on his face as he kicked off fight week, Moutinho doesn’t take for granted that he’s getting a second chance at a first impression but in many ways he feels like this is his real introduction to the UFC.
He may sport an 0-2 record in the promotion but Moutinho expects to show a much different side to himself when he clashes with Wellmaker on Saturday.
“You’re in my way and I have to put you down and that’s the only way it’s going to be,” Moutinho said about his upcoming fight. “I’ve been saying this to myself, I am inevitable. My time is inevitable. I’m here for a reason. I got back for a reason. There’s no stopping me.”
