Hometown advantage inspires him to win, says Mark Muñoz

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American fighter Mark Muñoz revealed that fighting in the Philippines gives him the drive to come out on top of his farewell fight against English middleweight Luke Barnatt at UFC Fight Night 66 on Saturday, May 16.

The 37-year-old Muñoz shot down Barnatt’s claim that the hometown crowd could put him in a disadvantage, asserting that it would bring out his determination to conclude his eight-year prizefighting career on a high note.

“There are no distractions. Zero. I just love the support from everybody. It’s a home-crowd advantage for me,” he said during the open workout at SM Mall of Asia’s Music Hall in Pasay City, Metro Manila on Wednesday, May 13.

Aside from his decision to hang up his gloves for good regardless of the outcome of his three-round bout versus Barnatt, Muñoz aims to break his three-match losing skid.

After his dominating performance against Tim Boetsch in July 2013, Muñoz has lost three fights in a row, suffering excruciating defeats in the hands of Lyoto Machida, Gegard Mousasi and Roan Carneiro.

In his last Octagon outing this past February, it only took Carneiro under two minutes to render Muñoz unconscious with a rear-naked choke.

According to Muñoz, he made necessary adjustments in training camp due to his desire of putting himself back on the winning track for the very last time.

“I feel good. I feel great. I have no injuries for this fight. Weight is good. I am very excited to be here and compete. It’s going to be awesome on Saturday night,” he stressed.

Muñoz also disclosed that he tapped former foe Kendall Grove to prepare him for Barnatt’s size advantage.

“The Filipino Wrecking Machine” thwarted Grove via second-round technical knockout in April 2010.

 “Kendall Grove came for my whole camp, and he is the perfect training partner for Luke. It was amazing. I had him for eight weeks. It’s been great,” Muñoz stated.

Barnatt stands 6-foot-6 and has a reach of 82 inches, which gives Muñoz a disadvantage in height by six inches and in length from fist to armpit by 11 inches.

Muñoz promises not to disappoint his Pinoy fans as he vows to pummel Barnatt with his signature “Donkey Kong” ground-and-pound and walk out of the Mall of Asia Arena on fight night with his hand raised in triumph.

“Luke is long and rangy. He is very tough and comes forward. He uses his length to his advantage. I am going to come in there, and he needs to stop what I am bringing,” he ended. – Rappler.com