Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz (12-2) suffered an unfortunate setback in his quest to become the UFC middleweight champion, when an elbow injury forced him to pull out of his UFC on Fox 2 bout.
Munoz injured his elbow in sparring session last Friday. The elbow continued to bother him, and after seeing a doctor, Munoz was forced to make the decision to pull out of his scheduled title eliminator showdown against Chael Sonnen (27-11-1) in Chicago on the Jan. 28.
“The spurs dislodged from my bone and into my joint causing bone chips to float around in the joint space,” Munoz wrote on his Twitter page explaining the injury. He is scheduled to have surgery on Thursday.
An obviously upset Munoz, who was looking forward to his showdown with Sonnen, expressed his disappoint while remaining optimistic that the temporary setback can only make him that much more determined to reach his ultimate goal of becoming a world champ. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it,” Munoz quoted Charles Swindol and promised “I will be back stronger than ever!”
Matter of fact, Munoz had mentioned the injury to this scribe in the past, and said he has been enduring it for about three fights now. Being the true warrior and blue collared worker that he is, Munoz who was turning over fights every other three months and fought 7 fights in the past 2 years, didn’t complain or let the injury stop him, until it ultimately gave out on him.
One of the most liked personalities in the UFC, Munoz didn’t lose his sense of humor amidst trying times. “Look on the bright side, now you can eat all the Filipino food you want,” I suggested. “Yes I can, but I’m still upset! BUT you are right about that!” Munoz replied with a good laugh.
Injuries are unfortunate, but is a part of sports, especially with the gruelling nature of MMA. Better that the injury occured in training, as opposed to having it compromise his chances in the actual fight.
From a person that has seen how hard the man works and knowing the type of character he possesses, it’s hard not to feel bad for the guy. With that said, I also believe Munoz will be back and better in no time. That’s just how Filipinos are when faced with adversity.
“Best of luck with the surgery and speedy recovery!!!”
Munoz will be replaced by former title contender Michael Bisping.
