Issue 115
June 2014
UFC middleweight contender Mark Munoz reviews his goals in MMA.
I‘ve been very fortunate in my career, having been afforded so many opportunities to travel the world with the UFC and see so many historical cities and experience so many cultures. But there is still one country I dream about fighting in and to achieve that dream would be as big as winning the UFC championship belt.
The UFC likes to use me to help unlock different markets, so I will often fight in regions and cities that haven’t seen the UFC live before. For instance, my fight against Gerard Mousasi in May was booked for the UFC’s first visit to Berlin. In Berlin, and indeed all of Germany, they still need more education in regards to what MMA really is.
I like fighting in different countries and educating them about MMA. This is my passion. I love to show people how it’s not as violent as some think it is, it’s not as barbaric as some people still believe. It truly is an art, and it can be beautiful in their eyes once they understand it.
One place where they already understand about the art in mixed martial arts is the Philippines. I would love to headline a UFC Fight Night there. It’s definitely a lifelong ambition of mine to compete in the country where it all started for my family. It’s my motherland and so I’d love to represent all the Filipinos and be the pioneering guy who leads the emergence of MMA there.
I’ve already been to the Philippines a few times, perhaps as many as five or six, representing the UFC and conducting media tours and hosting seminars, and it’s been great. I get to hook up with my family back there and it’s a place I love dearly and I definitely want to go back and hopefully headline a UFC card out there some time.
And I am hopeful that will happen pretty soon. It was supposed to happen in June but I guess the planning got derailed somehow. I’m still hopeful something will happen at the end of this year, although it’s more likely to be next year now.
MMA is growing fast in the Philippines; the people there are avid fans of the sport and there are some good young fighters coming out of the country already. There are gyms popping up all over the place and they love their fight sports.
Combat sports is huge out there right now, thanks largely to Manny Pacquiao’s incredible success in boxing, and that’s really opened the door for mixed martial arts to explode. And it’s this opportunity and fortunate timing that fuels me to keep pushing for a UFC fight card in the Philippines.
I definitely want to be one of those pioneers, one of those guys who pushes the sport in new directions. And what better direction than towards my homeland.
The first year I spent in southern California I trained at the Wild Card gym with Freddie Roach and I worked out alongside Manny, although I didn’t train with him. I saw him hit mitts with Freddie, but I never got to train with him.
Perhaps one day in the future – that would be incredible. Although I would probably have to take him down, you know, once he started hitting me!
THE DRAGON CHASER
The Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida fight in July will be a great matchup and perhaps closer than a lot of fans think. Lyoto is very elusive and Weidman is going to have a hard time getting to him. If he can pin Lyoto down, you have to fancy his chances. But it isn’t going to be easy. Lyoto is very good at not being pinned down and he’s a master at taking advantage of opportunities.
There really is nobody out there who fights like Lyoto and so that means there is nobody Weidman can bring in to spar with that could replicate him, so that opens up so many possibilities.
I would love for Lyoto to win that fight, but at the same time it’s in my weight division and whoever wins will be the guy I’m looking to fight again soon.
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