For a fighter competing at the highest level of mixed martial arts, time for anything outside of his direct career path can be difficult to come by. Every showing inside the cage carries important implications; therefore, an athlete has to commit to a rigorous training schedule to ensure he is in peak condition come fight night. With this process being consistently repeated, there isn’t a ton of room in a fighter’s life to take on many endeavors beyond his immediate career.
Mark Munoz is making the time, and he’s making it count.
While the veteran UFC middleweight is currently giving his body some additional time to heal from a rough 2014 campaign, The Filipino Wrecking Machine has invested his time and effort into bringing inspiration and education into avenues he’s long been passionate about. Munoz is a fighter through and through, and while the natural tendency to rush back into action is there, the husband and father of four is also aware how much good an extended break will do for his body.
“I’m giving my body time to heal up,” Munoz told Bleacher Report. “It just needed time, and I’ve been beating it up a lot over the years. People say I train like a madman and don’t give myself enough time to recover. I had to give my body time to rest, and that’s what I did. I’m feeling great right now and working on getting everything back to fighting again.
And while he allows the recovery process to repair him physically, the former NCAA Division I national champion wrestler is doing all he can to give back to things he believes were important elements of his personal development.
As a former standout at Oklahoma State University, the sport of wrestling has been a crucial element in Munoz’s life. A lifetime competing on wrestling mats has shaped him into the man he is today, and the 36-year-old Team Reign leader has found a way to give back to the sport with his “Series of Legends” clinics—a program where Munoz and a revolving cast of high-profile wrestling talents provide seminars at high schools in Southern California.
“Wrestling has always been a high priority in my life, and I definitely want to give back to the wrestling community,” Munoz said. “This is something I plan on doing for a very long time.
“We hold clinics once per month and bring in future and established legends of wrestling to do clinics. We have huge names in the sport of wrestling, and all 12 months are filled with Olympic, world and national champions. These guys are all amazing technicians, and I’m bringing them out to do these clinics. The equivalent would be like if it were the NBA and you had LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird doing clinics. There are a lot of amazing wrestlers on board, and we have rising stars as well as past legends. That’s what I’m doing right now, and it’s pretty awesome.”
While his monthly clinic series and MMA training are keeping him busy, Munoz has also committed to fighting the issue of bullying in schools throughout Orange County. The fighter has partnered up with the Orange County Department of Education to roll out an educational program that involves awareness training and anti-bullying seminars where Munoz addresses the topic directly with students.
He was passionate to take up the charge and believes the impact of the program is already being felt.
“I go to elementary, middle and high schools and talk about my experiences with being bullied and talk about statistics from those people who have gone through it,” Munoz said. “I talk about what bullying can lead to and how serious this problem is. I try to educate them and change the perspectives of those who are being bullied and those who are doing the bullying. I partnered up with the Orange County Department of Education, and the schools are doing training before I come in to talk to them. It’s pretty awesome, and we’ve had a lot of change here in Orange County. I want to be able to take it nationwide eventually.”
Although Munoz will spend the rest of 2014 continuing to explore outside endeavors, he has also started the necessary work to make his return to the Octagon possible. The Lake Forest, California, representative has yet to set anything in stone as far as a return date goes, but he is eyeing late February or early March to make his official comeback.
It just so happens the UFC will be returning to Los Angeles for UFC 184 on Feb. 28, and Munoz believes getting on the card would be the perfect alignment of timing and circumstances for him to step back into action.
“I would love to get on the card in Los Angeles,” Munoz said. “The event is being held at the Staples Center and taking place at the end of February, which is when I’m looking to get back inside the Octagon. That is the time frame and window I’m shooting for, but we’ll have to see how everything works out.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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