After deciding that his next fight -- which will be against Luke Barnatt at UFC Fight Night 66 on May 16, 2015 in Manila, Philippines -- would be his last, Mark Munoz took another step in his process of stepping away from mixed martial arts (MMA) by selling his gym.
Appearing on a recent edition of The MMA Hour, Munoz revealed that he sold Reign Training Center -- which is located in Lake Forest, California -- in order to concentrate full time on his family and focus on coaching wrestling.
His words (via MMA Fighting):
"I've actually sold Reign Training Center, and I'm looking to get into coaching for wrestling again. For me, my son is going into high school, and my daughter has got two more years of college, and I want to be a dad that leaves a legacy with his children. I want to be able to spend time with them. These past six years have gone by so fast, and I haven't really gotten to spend time with them. I've been spending 12, 13 hours days at the gym, teaching, coaching. And then I've been doing a lot of my community work with my anti-bullying campaign, all the while trying to be a husband to a wife and four kids, and then being a UFC on top of that. It's been a hard year as far as injuries, a lot of stress. So I just want to simplify my life."
It wasn't an easy decision for "The Filipino Wrecking Machine," who admits the emotions got the best of him once the transaction was completed. That's because aside from serving as home base for many fighters, they gym was also a place for at risk and underprivileged kids to feel safe.
"It was tough. It was really tough. I actually got emotional. I really got emotional. There was a three-day period of mourning. I helped a lot of people through that gym. People came up to me and said, ‘you saved my life having this gym open.' Kids that are underprivileged or at risk came to the gym and they found a purpose in their life through the gym. It was tough. It was really for me, but my first service is to my family. To leave a lasting impact on my family first...I've got to tend to them first. And the gym was like keeping me away."
As for his upcoming bout, Munoz stated that he is feeling good and confirmed that the weight cut is going well and is confident he will avoid another scale fail.
"I'm doing well man, I'm excited. I had a great practice today here. I've got great training partners. My weight is down. I guess, you know about the last weight cut. It was very hard, and usually when you have a hard weight cut it's probably not a good outcome for me. But hey, my weight's good. I'm going into this fight ready. I'm prepared. I've had a great training camp."
Munoz is coming off a first-round submission loss to Roan Carneiro at UFC 184 a few months back (recap), a defeat that marked his third straight. Despite his recent struggles, Mark will have the chance to go out on a high note in front of his countrymen.
Can he get the job done?