If you need any more proof that Mark Munoz is one of the most beloved athletes in mixed martial arts, you need look no further than UFC play-by-play man Jon Anik handing the fighter the mic after Munoz defeated Luke Barnatt in his retirement fight Saturday at UFC Fight Night 66.
As an interviewer, the No. 1 rule is this: You never give up the microphone. If the subject of your interview attempts to grab the mic, you maintain control. Losing control of the mic means that you are no longer in control of the broadcast, and that’s not optimal.
But Anik, moments after watching Munoz finish his career with a beautiful and dominant win in the place where his parents were born, walked into the Octagon with a different idea. He handed the microphone to Munoz, allowing him to speak at length about his career and what it meant to win his final fight in the Philippines.
Anik handed the microphone to Munoz because he has always been and will continue to be known as one of the nicest men in mixed martial arts. Munoz is a rare breed of respect and genuineness, and anyone who has ever interacted with him will tell you the same thing.
I met Munoz for the first time several days before his August 1, 2010, loss to Yushin Okami. When we were introduced, he shook my hand, looked in my eyes and told me it was nice to meet me. He asked me how I was enjoying San Diego. I had the sense that he wasn’t just asking me for the sake of it or to fill time; he asked me because he was curious.
That’s how Munoz treated everybody he encountered, and that’s why he received an overwhelming show of social media support after his win Saturday. In a sport filled with plenty of egos and jerks, he stood out for his quiet, gentle nature and kindness.
“I left the Octagon, but I’m leaving the legacy of treating people the way I want to be treated. I’m known as one of the nicest guys in the UFC and there’s a reason for it. That’s the Filipino way: You respect and you’re respected back. I’m very Filipino, this is who I am,” Munoz said after the fight. “This is my culture. I uphold traditions close to my heart. It’s a storybook ending here in the Philippines. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending, and I thank God I was able to end my career here.”
From a fighting perspective, the past three years were not kind to Munoz. From July 2012 to February 2015, he ran up a 1-4 record. He decided to retire because he felt he was missing important moments at home with his children, but it also felt like any sort of excellence he once had in the Octagon was slipping away as the ravages of time ebbed against him. The decline came slowly at first, and then all at once, and he crept dangerously close to that territory where you felt uncomfortable just watching him step in the Octagon.
But then Saturday came, and he had a chance to finish out his career in storybook fashion, and then he went into the Octagon and did just that. He beat Barnatt handily, putting on perhaps his best performance in years, and then he stood in the Octagon and gave an emotional interview that left me, thousands of miles away, with more than a few tears leaking from my eyes.
“I feel so good. To love what you do and do what you love, it doesn’t feel like work, and that’s fighting for me,” he said. “But family is always the priority. I’m going out on my own terms. I don’t want to miss any more special moments with them. I’ve had an amazing career.”
And then he laid his gloves in the center of the Octagon canvas and walked away on his own terms, clutching redemption and his fairy-tale ending in his now-gloveless hands.
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