About Mark - Mark Munoz: Filipino Wrecking Machine

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Biography

Mark was born February 9, 1978 on a US Military Base in Yokouska, Japan to Filipino parents Imelda Kenery of Santa Ana, Manila, Philippines and Rodolfo Munoz from Pasay City, Philippines. At the age of 2, Mark and his family relocated to the US and settled in the city of Vallejo, California.

Mark’s love of athletics began at a very young age, his main focus being football. However, when he was a sophomore in high school, he incurred an injury that prevented him from playing the sport that he loved so dearly. So he turned to wrestling and the rest is history…

High School

Mark began to wrestle at the age of thirteen. Younger, but with more brawn than the other wrestlers on the high school varsity team, Mark practiced with the varsity wrestlers because his coach believed in his raw talent and potential to be a great wrestler. The younger Mark took this as an opportunity to learn from the older, more experienced, wrestlers every day along with a committed coach. That he did for a whole year. In 1992, at the age of 14, Mark won his first championship title. That was all it took– Mark was committed to the skill of wrestling.

Throughout middle school and high school, the generosity of family, friends, and the community fund-raised to support this inner city youth to go to summer training camps, and competitive wrestling tournaments in various cities. Mark put in long hours after school, in the summer, and on the weekends to perform at an optimal level. The long hours would pay off. In 1995 and 1996, Munoz was a two-time California State Wrestling Champion for Vallejo High School, an Asics First Team All-American, and the 1996 NHSCA National High School Champion at 189 pounds.

In 1996, he was a Silver Medalist on the USA Junior National Wrestling Team. Later that same year, he finished fifth in his weight class at the FILA Junior World Wrestling Championship in Russia.

College

Recruited by most of the top wrestling colleges in the country, Mark went on to wrestle at Oklahoma State University under legendary Head Coach John Smith. Mark started for the Cowboys all 4 years compiling 121 wins, sixth on the all-time winning list of the Cowboy wrestling dynasty. He captured two Big 12 titles including the outstanding wrestler honor of the conference in his senior year and earned back-to-back All-American honors at 197 pounds, capping off with a NCAA title as a senior in 2001. He became the first Filipino American at the Division I Level to win a National Championship. He also made the NWCA All-Academic Team for three years and the Big 12 All-Academic squad for four. Additionally, Mark was a three-year member of the FILA Junior World Wrestling Team, earning the silver medal in 1998.

Mark received a Bachelors of Science Degree in Health Science from Oklahoma State University.

Mixed Martial Arts

In 2003, Mark accepted a coaching position with the UC Davis Aggies wrestling program only 30 minutes from his hometown. He packed up his family and moved back to California where he met WEC lightweight Champion Urijah Faber as he coached with him on the Aggie Wrestling Team. With the advice of his friend, Mark decided to train mixed martial arts part-time in January of 2007, only training a couple days a week when his schedule allowed. Mark stepped into the MMA scene with his first fight on July 17, 2007. In April of 2008, Mark resigned from his coaching position to train full-time. He made his WEC debut at WEC 34 on June 1, 2008 in the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California where he defeated Chuck Grigsby (13-3) via KO at 4:15 of the first round. On December 3, 2008, Mark defeated Ricardo Barros for WEC’s year-end event, WEC 37, via TKO. Munoz and Barros were the final 205lb fighters to compete in the WEC. Mark was one of the chosen few to be relocated to WEC’s sister promotion, which is also owned and produced by Zuffa, UFC. Mark’s UFC debut as light heavyweight did not go as planned losing to Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner Matt Hamill. He has since moved down to the middleweight division and has won 3 consecutive fights in the UFC octagon against contenders Nick Catone (August 29, 2009), Ryan Jensen (January 2, 2010), and Kendall Grove (April 10, 2010). Since his start in MMA, Mark has compiled an impressive record of 10-2.

Mark is set to fight Damian Maia at UFC 131 in Vancouver, Canada on Saturday, June 11, 2011.