Mark Munoz out of contract with UFC, removed from official rankings
UFC middleweight Mark Munoz suffered his second straight loss when he fell to Gegard Mousasi in Germany and now the former title hopeful is out of UFC contract awaiting word on possibly re-signing with the promotion.
Word came down on Monday morning that Munoz had been removed from the UFC's official ranking system, which appeared as if the former NCAA champion may have possibly been released from the promotion.
In reality, Munoz's fight with Mousasi was the last fight on his current deal with the UFC and he's now out of contract, although the organization is working to possibly bring him back if a new agreement can be made.
"Mark is no longer under contract at this time. However, we are negotiating towards a new agreement," a UFC official told FOX Sports on Monday.
Munoz will be out of action for some time following the loss to Mousasi as he revealed his knee has suffered a grade 3 tear in the MCL (medial collateral ligament) as well as a strained ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). Typically, doctors will try to avoid surgery on the MCL and instead opt for rest and recovery, which usually requires about six to eight weeks of rest and rehabilitation.
At 36-years of age, Munoz has fallen on harder times over the last couple of years after a very promising start to his career in the middleweight division. An elbow injury forced Munoz to sit out for the better part of a year following a loss to Chris Weidman in 2012 and while he did return to win his next fight, he then dropped his next two in a row.
Overall, Munoz has gone 1-3 in his last four fights and was previously ranked No. 9 in the world following the loss to Mousasi.
Now the waiting game begins as Munoz negotiates with the UFC on a new deal to hopefully return to the Octagon.
