Time is a curious element.
While it is not something we can physically touch, those rules do not apply in return. Time and the impact of its passage can been felt and seen at every turn, all the while perpetually moving forward without mercy or sympathy to those who operate within its constructs. Time simply is, and while resisting the ever-rolling tide of it is something most attempt, the end result is the same for all.
Mark Munoz has and will always be a fighter by definition, but the focus of those efforts are in the process of changing. “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” has spent the better part of the past decade fulfilling that role in the literal sense as the former Division I national champion wrestler turned mixed martial artist has been a fixture in the UFC’s middleweight division. Yet, with the 37-year-old Orange County representative closing in on his retirement from MMA competition, the days of Munoz scrapping it out against a worthy adversary will soon come to an end.
And while the lifelong competitor admits he’ll miss the sport he’s loved intensely for the past several years, it was love in the unconditional sense that made him realize the time had come to change courses. Munoz is a family man above all else, but a career as a professional athlete requires certain sacrifices, and he feels it’s been far too long since those who matter most to him have received the attention they deserve.
He knows he cannot make up for time lost or change the past, but he’s determined to make the absolute most of the road ahead.
“I want to be there for my family,” Munoz told Bleacher Report. “I want to lead them and teach them and make sure they are going down the right direction. My family did that for me and I want to do the same for my kids. I love my family so much and they are the reason I made the decision I did. I always say they are my first priority and if I were to continue fighting they wouldn’t be that. I’d be a hypocrite. It all goes by so fast. It all goes by in the blink of an eye where one moment they are little kids and the next they are ready to venture off into their own opportunities. I’d like to know where all that time went?
“That was the catalyst that spurred on my decision. It was my kids. I also promised my wife that when my youngest gets into the first grade I’d be done. She’s been in the first grade for the whole year now and it’s time. Now it’s on to the next chapter. I look at my career and I think I did great. Obviously I didn’t accomplish my goals, but that’s okay. I can take the knowledge I garnered throughout my career and pass it on to others. I have always felt I am a better coach than I am an athlete and that’s what I’m going to do going forward.”
Although Munoz credits his family for being the inspiration behind his decision to walk away from competing in combat sports, the actual balance being tipped in the equation came down a specific moment. Munoz had just watched his son’s travel team compete in Cooperstown, New York during a national tournament where his son was the standout performer on the field. With that in mind, Munoz admits it came as a huge shock to him when his son told him not only did he want to quit baseball, but soccer as well.
In shock and confusion, he immediately set about questioning his son’s reasoning, but by conversation’s end, it would be Munoz who made the greatest change of all.
“It’s an awesome story, and to give a little perspective on that he plays baseball on a travel team called The Roughnecks who are the best team in Orange County,” Munoz explained. “They played in Cooperstown, New York and it is similar to the Little League World Series only a notch below. He played very well out there and went 12/15 at the plate and didn’t make a single error playing third base. Right after that he tells me he wants to quit and I was so confused. Then he told me he wants to quit soccer as well, and just like baseball, he plays and starts for one of the best soccer clubs out here.
“When he said he wanted to quit those things I was immediately against it, and when I asked him why he said, ‘Because I love wrestling.’ I asked him what he loved about wrestling and he said, ‘I love wrestling dad because I don’t have to rely on other people. I can just go out there, work hard and rely on myself. If I win, I won because of my hard work, and if I lose, it’s because of what I didn’t do and it is on my shoulders.’ I told him I could respect that. Next, I asked him what his goals in wrestling were and he told me to get a full ride scholarship to a Division I program.
“I told him there are 77 schools and 770 scholarships available and what made him think he would be one of those to earn one? Without batting an eye he looked me dead in the face and said, ‘Because I have you dad.’ I was floored. In that moment I broke down and told him, ‘We’re going to do this, buddy.’ I knew right there in that moment what I had to do. He has the work ethic and the sky is the limit for him, but I want to be there for the process. I already feel like I’ve missed out on so much and I’m not going to miss out on anything else.”
While he will be looking to make a triumphant exit from MMA in his bout with Luke Barnatt at Fight Night 66 in Manila on May 16, the path Munoz has traveled over the past three years has been anything but smooth. Where he was once poised to earn a shot at the middleweight title with a victory over Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2 in January of 2012, his current status in the 185-pound ranks hangs at the opposite end of the spectrum. A rash of injuries and setbacks inside the Octagon knocked Munoz from the upper tier of the middleweight fold, and he’s been unable to regain his traction over his past three fights.
Munoz is quick to acknowledge the frustration and disappointment he’s dealt with in recent years, and has spoken publicly about the depression he was forced to overcome in the lead-up to his comeback bout against Tim Boetsch at UFC 162 in July of 2013. The hovering circumstances of his struggles inside the cage would eventually combine with reoccurring injuries and the responsibilities of owning his gym Reign Training Center, and something needed to give.
Yet, rather than make excuses or point fingers at who or what went wrong in those avenues, Munoz accepted the reality of the situation and started working toward a solution.
“I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs over the past three years, but I have learned to take the good with the bad because it’s all part of my story,” Munoz said. “The past few years have been rough and through it all I was operating Reign Training Center and doing a lot of work for my community with my anti-bullying campaign. I was helping guys out with coaching and teaching at the gym. I was traveling with my wrestling team to different tournaments and all the while trying to train and be at the top of the heap in the middleweight division.
“I was doing a lot and stressing out about the gym a lot of the times. Having to do all those things all the while still being an elite level mixed martial artist was really hard. That’s why right now I let the gym go. I shut it down and right now I’m pruning my tree. I really am. If you really think about agriculture and the principle of pruning, you prune a tree to get fruit from other places. The right places and that’s what I’m doing. I need for it to happen because my family is my first priority. I need to tend to them.
“I’m definitely at a crossroads in my life, but there are a lot of open doors I can walk through,” he added. “They say when one door closes a few open up and that’s how it is for me. There are a few doors that are opening and I’m going to step through them on faith and do the best that I can. I’m going to make the best of those opportunities and let the chips fall where they may. There are a lot of things for me to be excited about.”
If Munoz is excited about what the future will hold for him beyond competing inside the Octagon, then he could be categorized as downright ecstatic for his final under the UFC banner. For the majority of his time in the UFC, Munoz has campaigned and advocated for the promotion to hold an event in the Philippines. In addition to it being the home country for multiple generations of his family, the Philippines also have a rich history in martial arts and combat sports alike, and it was Munoz’s dream to one day be able to compete on the soil his ancestors once walked upon.
Therefore, Munoz will not only be looking to make his official exit from MMA a triumphant one against the rangy Brit in Manila, he will be attempting to do it in the most ideal setting imaginable for him. Those elements have the potential to combine for a story-book ending to Munoz’s career, and he’s not going to hold anything back once the cage door locks behind him for the final time.
“It means the world to me to be fighting in the Philippines,” Munoz said. “It’s the place of my heritage and where it all started for me. Everything from the culture, food and language…that’s all me, man. I’m excited. I went over there a while back and was trying to promote the UFC and get it on the scene over there, and now it’s finally coming to fruition. I couldn’t be more excited.
“The beast is going to come out of me in this fight. I switched my training back to the people I started with and that’s when I was an animal going in there. I have all the bases covered and I’m excited for this fight. This is my home country and I’m definitely looking to make a big splash. I’m looking to go out on top. I’m that wrecking machine is coming out again. I’m definitely ready to go.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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