For family man Mark Munoz, a UFC 102 return required reassuring

August 24, 2009 by admin
Filed under Featured, Latest Media, Media

For Mark Munoz, success at the Division I collegiate wrestling level and now in the most prominent mixed-martial-arts organization in the world is the result of his support system.

Munoz looks to his parents, his wife and kids, and even his training partners as one big, extended family.

So when Munoz, who returns this coming weekend to fight Nick Catone at UFC 102, suffered a stunning head-kick knockout loss to Matt Hamill earlier this year at UFC 96, he had to reassure a small army of loved ones that the adversity would only make him stronger.

Or as Munoz said on a recent edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), “To me champion aren’t measured by how many times they win but by how many times they pick themselves up after a loss.”

Munoz never wavered.

Making his UFC debut after a two-fight stint in the WEC, Munoz, the first-ever Filipino-American to win an NCAA Division I national championship (Oklahoma State University, 2001), was pitted against Hamill. Not only would Munoz lock horns with an equally accomplished collegiate wrestler, but he’d do so against a quickly improving MMA fighter and Ohio native who had Columbus’ Nationwide Arena crowd on his side.

After defending some takedowns, Hamill quickly turned the fight into a stand-up affair. Munoz landed a few uppercuts and a nice shot to the body, but after telegraphing a takedown attempt, Hamill blasted the fighter with a head kick that knocked him out cold. Munoz remained on the mat long after the fight finished but ultimately left the cage under his own power.

“‘You have your whole life to look forward to, and this is no good for you,’” Munoz said his mother told him.

His father and wife also had concerns.

“I just had to tell them this is what happens in a lot of sports,” said Munoz, who dropped to 5-1 with the defeat. “This isn’t going to happen to me a lot of times. This is a rare occasion, knock on wood. … I told them this is what I want to do and I need your support.”

They understood.

For Munoz, his life has always been fueled by competition. He tackled MMA with the same commitment and tenacity he used in successful wrestling and coaching careers.

“In my heart and soul, I’m a competitor,” Munoz said. “To have an outcome like that, it hurt a lot. But adversity and even losses help build character.”

Now, dropping a weight class to fight Catone on the UFC 102 preliminary card, Munoz has been sharpening his skills in Southern California at Mike “Joker” Guymon’s gym, as well as Blackhouse, which is home to the likes of Anderson Silva, the Nogueira brothers and Junior Dos Santos.

“I’m training with everyone now,” Munoz said. “Now I’ve got my groove on. … People are going to be shocked when they first see me.”

The first shock will come when they see Munoz’s new body. While calling himself an “in-betweener члены порно звезд

,” meaning his natural fighting weight falls somewhere between the middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions, he said he’s reshaped his frame for a run at 185 pounds.

“I’ve been dropping weight ever since three months ago,” Munoz said. “I’ve been training since a good three months ago, and I’m watching my diet and doing it really slow. I’m not doing any crash diets. I’ve been working really hard and cutting out the fat, and my body composition has really changed.

“It’s pretty shocking. It’s going to be pretty shocking to people. It’s pretty shocking to me.”

Munoz, who’s now likely fighting for his future in the organization, said he’ll have the Hamill loss in the back of his mind on Saturday night, but he’s ready to start a new chapter of his career.

“For me, that (Hamill loss) was just a bump in the the road,” Munoz said. “Now I’m going to go over it.”