Athletes
Johnny Munoz Stays Focused On His 'True Goal'
With Five UFC Fights Under His Belt, Johnny Munoz Feels Like He Has The Hang Of Things Ahead Of UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green
Johnny Munoz knows that every trip to Tijuana has a tinge of danger attached to it, and it has nothing to do with the hardcore training going on in the gym as he prepares for his Saturday bout against Aoriqileng.
“TJ's cool and everything, but it could be a dangerous place down there if you're not careful,” he said. “I've been very fortunate.”
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Someone not so fortunate was a homeless man, nicknamed Candy, who lived in the parking lot outside the apartment where Munoz had been staying. Candy was shot and killed in August, another casualty of the gun violence in Mexico.
“I always gave him food and he kept an eye on everything,” said Munoz. “He was a good guy to have there, and I really bonded with him and would chat with him all the time. I still can't believe he's f**king gone. Every time I go there, I'm expecting him to open the gate or chat with me or tell me s**t. And now he's not there. So it's different there. But it was an eye-opener. I’ve got to make sure I'm very alert at all times. Sometimes I get too comfortable, but life can be gone in the blink of an eye. TJ could be a wild place and it's just crazy sometimes.”
The training keeps drawing Munoz back, though, and after buying a new condo in a safer area, he can focus on what he travels there for, even though seeing the demise of Candy did make him question why he was doing it in the first place when he had his gym at home in California.
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“When he died, I actually asked myself, ‘What the f**k am I doing?’” he said. “I have the privilege to stay over here. I'm American. I'm a citizen of both countries, but I was born in America, so I really don't need to go down there. I could just stay here and train. But the reason I go down there is there's so many bodies to train with. Sparring is good and it keeps you on your toes. There are always different bodies going through from different countries, and you're always picking up new things, and I also think just seeing different things down there, the way people live, you could gain that mindset a little bit.”
It's a hunger, something a fighter needs to succeed but that many don’t get while being comfortable. Munoz isn’t comfortable when he’s crossing the border and back in order to get in the gym and battle with young fighters who would love to make their name by beating up a member of the UFC roster in sparring. The 30-year-old enjoys having that target on his back, and when most of the world was paused during the COVID pandemic, Munoz found work and a home in Tijuana.
“The whole world shut down, but s**t was still going down in Tijuana,” he said. “Everybody was training, guys got together down there, and now everybody's there.”
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Munoz made his UFC debut in the heat of the pandemic in August of 2020, and in five Octagon bouts, he’s alternated losses and wins, which means, if you’re keeping score at home and that pattern holds true, he should beat Aoriqileng this weekend in Las Vegas.
“F**k, man,” he laughs. “At some point, I knew that bulls**t was going to come up, but f**k it, we're winning this fight. I got this. I got to build the streak together. I need to get the streak going.”
He may have started it in May when he was scheduled to face Daniel Santos at UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey, but Santos was pulled on fight week due to injury, and Munoz had to regroup fast, especially with the bout rebooked for June 3 in Vegas. But when weigh-in day came around, “Kid Kvenbo” didn’t feel right.
“Basically, I had to go back into training right off the gate and that was a different experience for me,” he said. “I had to push myself to train, in a way, because it felt like my body was already done. I'm always training, I don't miss days, but it just felt very weird to me. It didn't feel the same. My body wasn’t in that flow state. We train to peak on fight week for the day of the fight, but it was probably my hardest weight cut I've ever had to do.”
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Munoz hit his mark at 136 pounds, but he didn’t look like the same fighter the next day, losing a three-round unanimous decision. Many would have called it a day after the bad weight cut, but guys like Munoz are cut from a different cloth.
“Every day is a battle, but then you just kind of go through it,” he admits. “I have learned and I know I am getting smarter with age, so if I'm hurt, I know when to lay back in training, and certain little things like that. But this last fight was a learning experience, so if that happens again, or something like that happened a teammate of mine, I would tell him my experience to help him better decide on his choice.”
Who are you kidding, Munoz; that little devil on your shoulder would always tell you to show up to fight, no matter what.
He laughs.
“Yeah, for sure; that little devil's there.”
It is what makes him who he is, a young man who refuses to sit back and enjoy the view. Not yet. Not even if he gets back in the win column on Saturday.
“It's easy to get comfortable,” Munoz admits. “And I’ve got to win, but the job's not done. I got more s**t to accomplish. Yeah, the win's cool, but I'm still not celebrating because I haven't accomplished my true goal yet.”
UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 7, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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