MEET MARK

GROWING UP

Mark was born February 9th, 1978 in Yokosuka, Japan on a US military base. His parents, Imelda Kenery and Rodolfo Muñoz, are both originally from the Philippines. When he was 2, his family moved to Vallejo, California.

Mark loved taking part in individual and team sports from a very early age. He took a liking to football, but an injury during his sophomore year of high school forced him to shift his competitive focus elsewhere. He started wrestling at the age of 13, and developed a passion for the sport that he still carries with him to this day.

Even when Mark first started, coaches saw his raw talent and potential. They had him practice with the varsity wrestlers, where he learned something new everyday from experienced coaches and the more seasoned students. Early in his career, at the age of 14, Mark won his very first wrestling championship. That was the moment that Mark knew he was going to commit to this sport, and he finished high school as a two-time California State Champion, and a National Champion.

ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP

Starting in 2003, Mark began coaching at UC Davis, helping grow the Aggie wrestling program. Since the campus was only 30 minutes from his hometown, he moved back to California with his family. One of the people he would be coaching with was World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) Lightweight Champion Urijah Faber. They quickly bonded, and Faber was one of the people who introduced Mark to the world of mixed martial arts. In January 2007, Mark began MMA training when his schedule allowed.

6 months later, Mark entered and won his first fight on July 19th, 2007. In April of 2008, Mark decided to pursue his MMA career full time. His first fight in WEC was on June 1, 2008, in the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. Mark defeated Chuck Grigsby (13-3) via KO at 4:15 of the first round. On December 3, 2008, Mark defeated Ricardo Barros for at WEC 37, via TKO. Muñoz and Barros were the final 205lb fighters to compete in the WEC.

When the WEC dissolved its light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, Mark was selected to transition into the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mark eventually decided to fight in the middleweight division. While fighting in that weight class, he beat seven of his next eight opponents, including Nick Catone (August 29, 2009), Ryan Jensen (January 2, 2010), Kendall Grove (April 10, 2010), Aaron Simpson (November 20, 2010), CB Dollaway (March 3, 2011), Demian Maia (June 11, 2011), and Chris Leben (November 5, 2011). The fight against Chris Leben was the first ever five-round non-title bout scheduled in UFC history. Mark didn’t falter under the pressure, winning by TKO in the second round.

After competing in the octagon for seven years, and at one point ranking as high as 3rd in the world, Mark decided to retire from the sport. He finished his successful UFC career by beating Luke Barnatt at UFC Fight Night 66, which was hosted in his native country of the Philippines. After the fight was over, Mark took a moment to thank God, the UFC, his family, and the fans in an emotional farewell speech. As a final symbolic gesture to the sport, Mark laid his gloves at the center of the octagon, and walked out for the last time.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Mark is the current anti-bullying spokesman for the Orange County Department of Education, and he speaks at schools across the country on the subject. His campaign, called “I’ve Got Your Back”, helps young students understand the impact that bullying can have, and how collectively they can help shut down this behavior. This is one of the ways that Mark shows his passion for motivating and inspiring youth.