Follow Us On Twitter

UFC Betting Today

Covering the latest UFC lines and betting picks, MMA odds and everything betting related to Ultimate Fighting Championship. See UFC odds, MMA betting lines and UFC betting from all the best fight cards.

MMA Ads

Munoz looking to turn the corner and get rid of the junker | read this item

Munoz looking to turn the corner and get rid of the junker

July 28, 2010 � UFC Betting Staff � Jump to comments

Related Items

There’s going to be some competition for the fight night bonuses at UFC on Versus 2. Yesterday, we told you about John Howard and his 1994 Honda Accord. Today, it’s Mark Munoz and his 1992 Honda Accord. It’s proves two things, Honda’s last and the crew of contenders on this card are still climbing the ladder to riches.

Munoz, a former All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, was having trouble supporting his wife and four kids. That’s while he was the wrestling coach at UC-Davis. So he decided to get into prize fighting and mixed martial arts.

“There were times where I couldn’t even provide for my family,” Munoz told the Orange County Register. “I accumulated much debt. The car got repossessed. The house foreclosed.”

Munoz (8-1) seems to be on the right track now as he preps to face Yushin Okami (24-5, 8-2 UFC). He’s entering his fifth fight in the UFC and owns his own gym, Reign in Lake Forest, Ca. But his frugal ways continue, he still has that old Honda.

He also trains a lot with Blackhouse MMA, the famed Southern California gym that houses Anderson Silva, Junior Dos Santos, Lyoto Machida and the Nogueira Brothers. Munoz has served a stand-in for Chael Sonnen as Silva preps to defend his title next weekend at UFC 117. Silva also has a win over Okami on his ledger.

“Anderson actually told me
that after sparring with me, and after fighting Okami, Yushin has nothing for
me,” said Munoz. “He knows what Okami has, so we’ve been working really hard to understand how
he moves and how to counter back. He’s got a lot of great stuff that he’s
showing me.”

Okami was once considered one of the top five middleweights in the UFC.
He’s a solid ground and pound fighter but his takedown defense was a big
issue two fights ago against Sonnen. That would seem to play
right into Munoz’s hands. Okami did show a more dangerous standup game
in his last fight against Lucio Linhares.

READ ALL OF THIS ARTICLE NOW