Muñoz rarin' to fight soon after elbow injury

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Mark Muñoz, a legitimate middleweight title contender in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is slowly getting his way back into tip-top shape.

After undergoing surgery to repair an injured right elbow he sustained during training last January, Muñoz is slowly but surely regaining the same old strength that brought him into the UFC middleweight radar.

“I’m scheduled to return in June but I’m confident I could get back fighting as early as that, perhaps May,” said Muñoz, who was supposed to fight top middleweight contender Chael Sonnen last Jan. 28 before he was pulled out after injuring a ligament in his right elbow.

No fight has been scheduled yet for the 34-year-old Muñoz, who owns a solid 12-2 (win-loss) record, but if he’s given the clean bill of health by his doctors, he could be paired against some of the best in the division like Brit Michael “The Count” Bisping or American Brian Stann.

Bisping replaced Muñoz in that fight against Sonnen and lost a decision while Stann recently made a big impression after quickly knocking out Alessio Sakara in the co-main event of the UFC on Fuel TV in Stockholm, Sweden.

The other featured fight, which was shown yesterday on television giant ABS-CBN’s sports cable channel Balls, was won by Sweden’s beloved son, Alexander “The Mauler” Gustaffson, against Thiago Silva via unanimous decision.

Before the surgery, Muñoz, who recently visited the country to hold clinics, was a fight or two from a title crack after he defeated Chris “The Crippler” Leben in November last year.

That massive win earned him a fight with Sonnen in a match that could have earned him a title showdown with reigning titlist Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who is still mixed martial arts’ best pound-for-pound fighter.