'Wrestlemania': Mark Munoz Exclusive Interview on his match-up w/ Chael Sonnen

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(Click this link to listen to the audio of this exclusive interview)

Part 1 of a series

I recently spoke to Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz (12-2), who will be breaking new ground for the Filipino athlete when he faces Chael Sonnen (27-11-1) in a title-shot eliminator bout at the United Center in Chicago on January 28, as the first full-blooded Filipino fighter to fight live on US network TV.

The bout will be the co-headliner of UFC on Fox 2 together with Rashad Evans and Phil Davis' title eliminator bout for the light heavyweight crown currently held by Jon Jones.

Munoz has steadily climbed the ranks as a middleweight fighter winning 7 of his 8 fights at the weight, and his only loss being a close split decision loss to recent title challenger Yushin Okami.

"It's going to be a great fight. I'm fighting Chael Sonnen for the number one contender (to Anderson Silva's UFC middleweight strap). It's going to be a great fight. He (Sonnen) comes and brings it, and I'm going to bring it too. I can't wait man. I can't wait to show all my fans what I've been working on," Munoz told me.

Despite the significance of his upcoming match-up, Munoz is unfazed and raring to go.

"No pressure. A fight's a fight. That's what I train to do. This is what I've been waiting for man; it gets me a notch closer to becoming a world champ. I'm so excited to be able to represent my culture and to be a notch closer to becoming a World Champ," Munoz said.

Munoz's match-up with Sonnen features two of the elite wrestlers in MMA. Munoz is a former 2-time California state wrestling champion and back-to-back NCAA division 1 All-American wrester at Oklahoma State, and is the first ever full-blooded Filipino to win a National Championship at the Division 1 level, while Sonnen was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at the University of Oregon, a silver medalist at the 2000 Greco-Roman World University Championships, as well as a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.

For Munoz, his experience and success fighting fellow wrestlers in the octagon will prove to be his advantage against Sonnen.

"I fought a lot of wrestlers in my quest to become a World Champ, and I don't think he's fought many wrestlers," Munoz told me, and added, "He's been able to take people down, control them and do what he can, do what he does best which is to take people down and grind them out. But for me, I've fought wrestlers. I've fought Aaron Simpson, CB Dolloway, even Demian Maia who beat Chael [...] Nick Catone who's another Division 1 wrestler."

"I've fought a lot of wrestlers coming up through the ranks, and he hasn't fought anybody like me. He knows what I bring to the table. He knows from our collegiate days what type of wrestler that I am. He's not going to be able to hold me down if he takes me down. He's going to have a hard time trying to take me down," Munoz continued.

"So I see a lot of this fight happening a lot on the feet. It might happen on the ground too, depending on how we go about taking each other down, but know matter where it's at, I'm confident, and I'm going to throw bombs wherever I'm at."

(Click this link to listen to the audio of this exclusive interview)

- dSG -

All about Munoz: "The Filipino culture.. these are my roots man. I grew up Filipino. I grew up around Filipinos. I just love my culture man." -- Who is Mark Munoz?

CLICK HERE to find out more on Mark Munoz, his fighting background and bio

CLICK HERE for our visit and inside look at Mark Munoz's Reign Training Center in the Orange County Area in California

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