Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

LAS VEGAS —Fil-Am mixed martial arts fighter Mark Muñoz lived up to his nickname as the Philippine wrecking machine.

Muñoz from Northern California pounded Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Ricardo Barros for a first round technical knockout win during their match at the Hard Rock Resort and Casino last Wednesday.

"Oh man, I’m elated," said Muñoz to The Asian Journal as he was walking to the dressing room after the win. "I feel great. All the hard work and training is paying off."

The 30-year-old, 6’0" 200-pound Fil-Am trained at the Wildcard Boxing Club for the past three weeks leading up to his World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) match against Barros.

Muñoz said that watching pound-4-pound champion Manny Pacquiao train gave him extra motivation in his performance.

"Just his tenacity," said Muñoz about Pacquiao’s training sessions. "I watched him spar and watched him hit the mitts and his tenacity is unbelievable and that’s what I wanted."

Muñoz brought that tenacity in the match against Barros, who came in with 4-1 bout record.

The moment the bell rang, Barros grabbed Muñoz right leg and brought him to the ground. It appeared that Barros had the upper hand as he tried to look for a submission move to finish off Muñoz. However, Muñoz, a former NCAA wrestling champion, quickly countered Barros’ move and landed on top.

With Barros in the guard position, Muñoz stood up to look for the ground and pound. Barros tried to slither away but ended up turning over revealing his back to Muñoz. As Barros covered himself up like an ostrich with its head in the sand, Muñoz took a backside mount position and landed hard blows to the side of Barros’ head. He peppered Barros head with hammer fists and pounded him with five right hooks before the referee stopped the match at the 2:26 mark in the first round.

"I knew he was going to try and take me down. I knew that he was going to try and get on top of me," said Muñoz. "But I knew that if he was going to get on top of me, I was going to get back on top of him. I prepare with the best guys like Renzo Gracie at the Gracie [Jiu-Jitsu] Academy and they are teaching me so much. I knew if I got on my back that I’d be able to get on top anyways and that’s why I ended up finishing the fight. I hit hard."

The win improves Muñoz record to 5-0 3 KO’s.

The win also signifies his last match with the WEC. The WEC is an MMA organization owned by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization.

Muñoz said he’s been called up to the join UFC but unsure about which division he’ll be fighting in.

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on December 5, 2008 in Asian Journal New York p. 4 )