With Faber’s prodding, Muñoz embraces MMA

There were nights that Mark Munoz would go to bed, but he frequently couldn’t rest. Life as a minor league professional fighter, particularly one with a family, meant living with economic hardship and uncertainty as constant companions.

The 2001 NCAA wrestling champion was urged to give mixed martial arts a try by his buddy, World Extreme Cagefighting star Urijah Faber. Faber took a look at Munoz and saw a guy with superb wrestling skills, great athletic ability and strength beyond measure.

“Mark is the kind of guy everyone likes, and he’s the kind of guy who could easily become a very marketable star in this sport,” Faber said. “I don’t know if I know of anyone who has ever had even a bad word to say about him.”

Munoz developed fierce competitiveness during his long and decorated wrestling career, and serving as an assistant collegiate coach didn’t fill that void in his life.

He took Faber up on his offer, but instantly brought on a whole series of problems on himself. Beginning fighters don’t usually make a lot of money, as Munoz was quick to find out.

“I got into this to provide for my family and try to give them a better life, but it’s hard because there are so many sacrifices you have to make along the way,” Munoz said. “You’re living month-to-month, sometimes day-to-day. You stretch the money as much as you can, but the money doesn’t come in as quickly as the bills do. You worry about if they’re going to shut off the electric, and you have to deal with the credit card companies calling. It takes a lot of sacrifice, a lot more than people realize.”

Munoz, 30, has made his way to the UFC and will meet Matt Hamill on the pay-per-view portion of the card at UFC 96 on March 7 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Faber raves about Munoz, who is 5-0 since turning professional in 2007. Faber has little doubt that Munoz will soon move among the elite at 205 pounds.

“He’s the kind of wrestler that guys like Randy Couture and Dan Henderson were and I think his development can be a little along those lines,” Faber said, heaping as much pressure as praise upon Munoz.

The two met in 2003, when Munoz took a job as an assistant wrestling coach at the University of California at Davis. Munoz left a similar job at Oklahoma State, where he was a two-time All-American in addition to the 2001 national champion at 197 pounds, in order to be closer to his family.

MMA was still in the dark ages in 2003, but Faber saw the sport’s potential and believed it would be wise for Munoz to get in early. Munoz opted instead to try to make the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, where he lost in the Olympic trials.

It wasn’t until 2007, when Munoz’s burning desire to compete eventually won out, that he accepted Faber’s offer to learn MMA.

“I was really done competing, I thought, and I’d gotten up to 265 pounds,” Munoz said. “Urijah just kept talking in my ear and telling me I would regret it if I didn’t at least try to do this, so finally I figured it was worth a shot.”

He’s quickly adapted, so much so that he earned the nickname “The Philippine Wrecking Machine” for his ground-and-pound prowess. Faber said Munoz has natural punching power that comes from his athleticism and is a first-rate finisher.

The defensive part of his game still needs to come, but there is no doubt that Munoz knows how to inflict pain.

“He’s such a great athlete. You didn’t have to teach him how to throw his punches,” Faber said. “Almost right away, you could see he was putting his entire body behind his punches and it just makes such a difference. He’s not throwing arm punches.”

He readily admits he’s an underdog against Hamill, who has much more experience at the top level. Only the truly elite – Rich Franklin and Michael Bisping – have beaten Hamill.

Munoz has big dreams and is eager to test himself against the elite in what may be the UFC’s deepest division. But he knows that Hamill is a significant test for him.

He says it’s “an honor and a privilege and I’m humbled he accepted a fight against me.” It’s all such sweet talk, but have no doubt, Munoz will lay a few knots alongside Hamill’s head if given half a chance.

“Oh yeah,” he says, chuckling. “That’s part of the sport.”

Munoz, though, knows that Hamill is no pushover and this fight is going to be as much a measuring stick of the progress he’s made as a mixed martial artist as anything else.

“It’s going to be a real good barometer for me,” Munoz said. “Matt Hamill is an established guy and I haven’t done the things he’s done. But I’ve trained with real good guys and, believe me when I tell you, I’ve put every last little bit I have of myself into my training.

“This is such a significant fight for me. Just to get to the UFC is huge, but to be fighting someone of Matt’s caliber makes it that much more significant. I can’t help but think of just a couple of years ago when I would have to ask myself if I did the right thing. It’s not that long of a time, but I know I’ve come a real long way.”

by: Kevin Lole (Yahoo Sports)