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Mark Muñoz ditching lechon, lumpia, and kanin to fight in Manila

Mark Munoz

Mark Muñoz is giving up lechon, lumpia, and kanin not for the Lenten Season but for a shot at being in the UFC Fight Night Manila card on May 16 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Currently ranked as the number 13 contender in the middleweight division, Muñoz wants nothing more than to be a part of the UFC’s first fight card in Manila. However, he needs to hurdle the challenge of Roan Carneiro in UFC 184. The card features Ronda Rousey defending her UFC bantamweight title against Cat Zingano on February 28 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

“I was so excited when I heard about it. And then I realized that I was fighting ten weeks before that card,” Muñoz said in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Philippines. “I need to be on that card so I called Joe Silva and I said. ‘Hey, I’m ten weeks away from the Manila card. Am I going to be there?’ and he said ‘Yes. I have every intention of putting you in that card.’ He then told me not to get hurt in my next match but we all know I can’t guarantee that.”

After winning seven of his first nine fights in the UFC, has now lost three of his last four fights against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, and Gegard Mousasi.

He wants to bounce back against the Brazilian Carneiro but he admits having the Manila fight card on his mind.

“It gives me added motivation. I want to be ready and prepared to be on that card. I want to be on the card so bad. I’m dieting,” Muñoz shared. “I’m not eating lechon, not eating lumpia, and not eating kanin every night. I’m just eating salads and cucumbers and carrots. Hindi maganda yun. I don’t want to eat that but I have to because I want to be on that card so bad.”

Muñoz injured his medial collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his last fight against Mousasi. After recuperating, the Filipino Wrecking Machine realized, with the help of his team, that he needed to alter his training method.

“Basically, I was running my body to the ground and not giving it enough time to recover,” he said. “My coaches told me to alter the way I was training. I did that for the past five and a half year and in the past year I’ve had four injuries in my past four fights. I’m 37 years old so it’s hard for me to switch but Albert Einstein said it best. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. To reach the level I want to reach, I need to change and that’s what I’m doing.”

Asked who he wants to fight in Manila, Muñon said he’ll gladly take on any top contender in the middleweight division.

“I haven’t put much thought into that. Anyone from Brad Tavares (ranked 15th) to Tim Kennedy (ranked 8th), someone like that,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who it is. It will be an exciting fight for sure because I don’t like boring fights.”