Would you fight your friend for $50,000? I sure as hell would. Shoot, I would do it for five grand and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s single barrel whiskey. So why is it so hard for fighters who make much more than $50,000 dollars to fight their friends inside the cage?
That same dilemma came up for Mark Munoz, who this Saturday will have to face his friend Aaron Simspon at UFC 123 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. ” I didn’t want to fight Simpson at first, but hey it’s our job,” Munoz told Marcos Villegas. I wish so many other fighters would have this same attitude as Munoz, who has stood apart from the rest of the pack by begin professional about fighting a close buddy. When asked if thoughts of him not wanting to really unleash and hurt the former ASU wrestler in the cage, Munoz responded, ” It does cross my mind, but when I get in there I’m going to want to win the fight. He is going to want to win the fight as well and if I don’t punch him he is also going to punch me.”
Munoz is attempting to bounce back from a loss to Yushin Okami earlier this year and expects aggressive stand up battle with Simpson. “It like we both nullify each other because of our wrestling backgrounds.” As with all of Munoz’s training camps, a plethora of fighters came through the doors at his reign training center in Lake Forrest, CA. Most Recently p-4-p #4 best boxer in the world, Nonito Donaire along with other notables in mma. Munoz also chimes in on his thoughts of his close training partner Anderson Silva facing off against Vitor Belfort.
