They don't want to spar hard, or they complain about the gloves, just a bunch of stuff. Sometimes I feel like in the States a lot of guys just bitch and whine. “You need it so you're battle tested for your fight. “I like to go hard, but as long as you're smart about it, it's good,” he said. When Muñoz says this, it’s like that’s the best part of the whole process. You gotta smack these young lions around every now and then.” :They were trying to prove a point, but I liked it because it keeps me on my toes. If you're not hungry enough, another young lion's gonna come and take your spot, so it keeps you on your toes and keeps you hungry. “Every time I spar the guys that weren't in the UFC, they try to tear my head off,” he said. People always come out of there, banged up, bumped up, bruised up - it's part of the process.”Īnd while the gym has produced Moreno and several UFC fighters past and present, it’s those future Octagon battlers that often give Muñoz the best work.
It's all hard work and then we're cool afterwards. There's no 'look at me' or none of that bulls**t. Sparring's hard, and there's nothing fancy about it. “You go there and just train hard and go hard. “They got everything there that you need to train as a fighter - strength and conditioning, striking, jiu-jitsu, everything,” said Muñoz. He needed a little convincing from his buddy Brandon Moreno to make the initial 2.5 hour drive to Mexico, but once he got there, he knew the former flyweight champ’s call was the right one. Muñoz returns this Saturday against Tony Gravely, his first start since the Simmons bout and following a trip from his home in Norco, California, to train with the Entram Jiu-Jitsu squad in Tijuana, Mexico. I had a lot of hurdles to get over coming up in jiu-jitsu, injuries, hardships - I've been working my whole life towards this point, sacrificed a lot of things, so this is my time.” I've been working hard my whole life to be here since five years old training jiu-jitsu. They get finished or lose two fights in a row and get cut, but that ain't me. “The first one (against Nate Maness in August 2020), I didn't get the decision I wanted, so I was like, ‘I'm here, but I gotta win.’ I'm not trying to be like these other guys that get in the UFC, start telling everyone they're finally here and they stop working. Wes Porter from Rockhurst, Kendra Wait from Gardner and Payton Verhulst from Bishop Miege also won state Gatorade Player of the Year awards in cross country, volleyball and basketball, respectively.“When I got the win, I felt better about my place in the UFC,” Muñoz said. So cherry on top is the way to put it,” Trumpp said. Gatorade’s a big deal - he is the one who deserves this award. “There’s so many high school soccer players, thousands, and he truly is - I’m sure they get it right.
Olathe West Soccer Coach Matt Trumpp said winning Gatorade Player of the Year is the perfect send-off.
Munoz will attend Liberty University in Virginia on a full-ride scholarship in the fall. Training on your own is not the same as training with your team.” “Just finding ways to keep getting better and keep working on our own, it’s difficult. “It was just a new challenge because we’re not going to have it the same way everyone else has had it,” Munoz said. Unlike spring athletes, who had their seasons canceled due to stay-at-home orders, Munoz and his teammates were able to finish theirs, capping it off as state champions.īut the COVID-19 crisis presented new challenges, as Munoz had to stay self-motivated when it came to working out. It’s a cherry on top of what was an unpredictable final semester. Then this came, and I just couldn’t be grateful enough,” Munoz said. Going into high school, I just wanted to play and have fun. Jony Munoz is the first player from the school to win Kansas’ Gatorade Player of the Year. Olathe West High School has only been open three years, but its boys soccer team finds itself in the spotlight. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.