Munoz relishes past, but still looks to future

After dismantling Chris Leben in October of last year, Mark Munoz had
his eyes set on a title shot in 2012 before an injury sidelined him.

Through the careers of professional athletes there are countless ups and downs, which rings especially true in mixed martial arts. You might be on top of the world one moment and have it taken away from you the next.

Such is the case with Vallejo-native, UFC middleweight Mark Munoz. Munoz, Northern California’s 2011 Breakout Fighter and Fighter of the Year winner, had a tremendous 2011 going 3-0 with two (T)KOs. It took several years, two gyms, two promotions and a move to Southern California but Munoz made a name for him in 2011.

“Never did I think I’d be punching or kicking people to make money. But the door continued to open for me and every time it did I was considering it more. Luckily Urijah Faber stayed on me and got me to try it. When I did I started to fall in love with the sport.” Munoz, to this day, continues to speak highly of Faber and his days at Team Alpha Male. Knowing that that is where he got his start.

“From the time I was in the WEC I was still brand new to MMA trying to do all I can to learn,” Munoz said about his early days as a pro. “I trained in Sacramento with Team Alpha Male. When I was called up to the UFC I then moved down to Southern California to be around family so we could have help with our kids.”

That move down south might have been the extra push Munoz needed, because ever since then he’s been on a tear in the UFC. And, after last year, it looked like he was on his way to a title shot.

It seemed like 2012 was going to be another great year for “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” as he was slated to face Chael Sonnen in a number one contender’s bout for a shot at Anderson Silva and the UFC middleweight title.

However, an old injury crept back up.

“I’ve been dealing with an elbow injury for quite some time now.” Munoz stated in an exclusive e-mail. “I’ve always had problems with my elbow, but it wasn’t so bad to sideline me out of a fight until this injury occurred.”

The injury was one that Munoz says he’s had plenty of times, but this time when he injured it he knew something more was wrong.

“Recently in sparring I re-injured my (elbow) yet again and felt that this time it was different because it kept lingering on rather than go away.” It was his manager and the UFC that pushed him to find out what was really wrong. “Come to find out that I’ve had spurs develop and bone chips were floated around in my joint space.”

Munoz was forced to pull out of his bout with Sonnen just eleven days before his fight on January 28 of this year. Mark had surgery to remove 24 pieces of bone and this injury will cause him to “be out till late June/early July.”

Rather then stay away from the sport he loves, Munoz still watched the highly contested bout between Sonnen and his replacement Michael Bisping. But, the former NCAA wrestling champion from Oklahoma State figured Sonnen would win.

“I felt like wrestling was the difference on the fight. Chael got takedowns and control Bisping frequently during the fight. Bisping did well at keeping a high paced and contested fight. But to me, wrestling was the difference.”

The middleweight division has become one of the deepest in the UFC and Munoz has taken notice. He knows the amount of talent there is in his weight class will make his recovery and rehab more important. Coming back and being at 100% is big for Munoz, because of all the talent he sees.

“There are many great competitors at the middleweight division. Right now Chael Sonnon, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, Rousimare Poulhares, Chris Weidman, are all up there.”

Even with all the talented opponents Mark speaks of, the UFC middleweight will still be a title contender upon his return. 

Follow me on Twitter @NiteshDutt.