Munoz is Selling his UFC 162 Gear on Ebay to help promote Wrestling!!
by Matt Erickson on Jul 07, 2013 at 3:45 pm ET
Mark Munoz has some ideas if Anderson Silva isn't in the mood for a rematch with Chris Weidman to try to recapture his middleweight title.Well, really just one idea: He'll take the shot.
Munoz (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) returned from a yearlong layoff on Saturday night and tore through Tim Boetsch (16-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) with a dominant display of ground-and-pound. He's won five of six – with that one loss coming at the hands of Weidman, a brutal knockout in July 2012.
Munoz has issued middleweight title challenges before – when Silva was the king of the mountain. Now that he's finally been dethroned, despite UFC President Dana White saying a rematch is in the cards for Silva if he wants it, Munoz is ready to step up in his stead.
"If Anderson doesn't fight Chris, I would love to step in," Munoz said at the post-event news conference for UFC 162, which took place Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. "This was the real Mark Munoz tonight. When I fought Chris, I actually had some adversity fighting him. I would really love a rematch with him if (Silva) doesn't take it."
After he beat Chris Leben at UFC 138 in November 2011, Munoz made a few ripples in the middleweight ocean when he said he'd love to fight Silva for the title. He had four straight wins at that point and seven in his past eight, with just a split-decision loss to Yushin Okami keeping him from eight in a row.
But considering Munoz had done some training with the Black House camp Silva is a part of, Silva reportedly found it odd that a sort-of teammate would want to fight him.
That appears to be water under the bridge. Munoz said Silva's loss to Weidman, which came by second-round knockout in UFC 162's main event (after Silva got caught with a punch while dipping and dodging and otherwise clowning around, as critics instantly called it) was one that was disappointing to him – but that the two talked about getting together again in the gym.
"I was disappointed because I know what Anderson can do and what he's capable of," Munoz said. "He got caught tonight. But he'll be back, though. He's a champion. He's been there for so long. I told him I want to train with him, and he said he'll come train."
Munoz's win was a big one for him from an emotional standpoint. After his loss to Weidman, he had an injury he needed to recover from. And he went through a bout of now well-documented depression in which he took his stress out on food.
At one point, Munoz said leading up to the fight with Boetsch, he had ballooned up past 260 pounds. That left plenty of work to do in order to reach 185 pounds again. But he did it, and said before the fight he felt better physically than he ever has before.
After beating Boetsch – landing nearly 200 strikes – Munoz said his right hand was a little sore, and he wasn't sure if it was broken. But one thing that wasn't broken was his spirit. That appears to be renewed in a big way. Now he just hopes it can ultimately lead to a title shot.
"It feels amazing to be back," he said. "I went through a lot of stuff, and I'd just say that adversity is the dust that polishes the diamond. It was my time to shine tonight, and I did. I love being in there – it felt like home. It really did. The stuff I went through is the stuff I think a lot of people go through – and I was just vocal about it. Now, I'm past it.
"It made me a better person and now I'm here – and I'm here to stay."
For complete coverage of UFC 162, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
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