Mark Munoz ‘in a holding pattern’ as UFC’s middleweight division rolls

The first week of 2014, UFC middleweight Mark Munoz started training like he had a fight approaching. The fact that he didn’t have one would change, he hoped, by exercising his will.

“I’m ready to step back in there,” Munoz (13-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) recently told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’m full go right now.”

Since being knocked out by ex-champ Lyoto Machida this past October, Munoz has sat on the shelf as fighters in his division line up for the next shot at champ Chris Weidman.

Munoz said he’s injury free, and contrary to appearances didn’t suffer serious injury when Machida flattened him with a head kick in the first round of their fight, which headlined UFC Fight Night 30.

“Funny thing is, I didn’t have a concussion,” he said. “I got kicked in the head, but I blocked it, and it just knocked my equilibrium off, and I was trying to get it back.”

Repeated injuries have delivered a heavy blow to Munoz’s career over the past three years, but the “Filipino Wrecking Machine” said he’s learned his body and now avoids the type of overtraining that invites them.

Despite that, Munoz is back to a grind of six-hour days in the gym in an effort to get himself ready for an upcoming booking.

“We’ve been in talks with [UFC matchmakers], and right now, everybody in the top 10 is either booked or injured,” he said. “So I’m in a holding pattern right now, which stinks. I want to get back in there, and I’ve been training.”

It was a lack of preparation, he said, that led to his setback against Machida, whom he taught wrestling technique to several years ago when they trained together in Southern California. Originally slated to face Michael Bisping, Munoz said he had two weeks to train for Machida’s unique style.

“The whole situation threw me for a loop,” he said. “I need more time to train for someone like Lyoto, for someone that’s unconventional, and has the kind of timing that he has, like no other person in the octagon. That might sound like an excuse, but I’m just saying that for me. I need to improve upon that. For whoever I step inside the octagon with, I need to have a game plan and set upon it right.”

When on point, Munoz is a handful for anyone at 185 pounds. Upon healing from elbow surgery and a broken foot that benched him for the latter half of 2012 and first part of this past year, he returned to put a one-sided whipping on Tim Boetsch at UFC 162.

Munoz said he isn’t interested in being the final opponent for aging legends such as Rich Franklin or Cung Le. Instead, he wants to jump back in the title hunt. As a middleweight, his only setbacks have been against title contenders or former champs (though Machida held the light heavyweight belt).

Hence, he’s pushing himself as hard as he can.

“You don’t make money on the fight,” Munoz said. “You make money in your training. For me, I don’t want to waste time any more. I want to be fighting fights that are going to strategically get me back to where I want to be.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.