UFC star wants to do a Pacman

MANILA, Philippines - Like Manny Pacquiao in boxing, Fil-Am Mark Munoz dreams of lording it over the octagon ring in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“He’s really a role model, I wanted to be a Manny Pacquiao in mixed martial arts,” said Munoz, one of the fast rising stars in the UFC with a 7-1 (win-loss) record.

“I’m a very, very huge fan of Manny,” said Munoz in a phone interview arranged for the media by television giant ABS-CBN and its sports cable channel Balls at the ELJ Building in Quezon City yesterday.

Munoz is coming off an impressive victory over Ryan Jensen, finishing off his rival in just two and a half minutes in the first round during their middleweight undercard bout in UFC108 Evans vs. Silva at the MGM Grand Arena last Sunday.

It was Munoz’s second straight win since beating Nick Catone via split decision in UFC102 Couture vs. Nogueira last August. Those victories more than made up for his disappointing loss to light heavyweight contender Matt Hamill in UFC96 Jackson vs. Jardine five months ago.

Munoz said he even went to Los Angeles, California – a three-hour drive from his hometown in Vallejo – to train under Freddie Roach for a UFC bout and meet the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

“I actually trained with Freddie Roach when I was in LA and the reason I want to train with him is that I want to see Manny while training under the world’s best trainer,” said Munoz.

“At the same time, I want to see how compassionate a role model he is because aside from boxing, he’s a very good person that’s why I wanted to see and meet him,” Munoz said.

Like all boxing fans, Munoz said he was disappointed that the superfight pitting Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been called off, saying the unbeaten American fighter was scared of the Filipino champion.

“I think Mayweather is scared. I think he is putting off to create a lot of drama, so to speak. But I think they’re going to make it a bigger fight right now,” said Munoz. – Joey Villar