Mark Striegl ~ A Beautiful Future Awaits

Mark Striegl: “A win over Sarmiento definitely puts me up there…”

(article by the Coffee Boy)

         Come November 17^th, Mark Striegl has a big fight in front of him with title implications behind it, but it’s an uphill battle against the MMA veteran and current PXC Lightweight Champion Harris Sarmiento.

         “A win over Sarmiento definitely puts me in line up there for a title shot…I think,” Striegl says. He also adds that he hopes a win over Sarmiento “…will get me an Andok's sponsorship.” (For those of you lost, much like I was, Andok's is a chain of roasted chicken restaurants in the Philippines).

         Currently undefeated, his record stands at 11 – 0, nine coming by way of submission. He has beaten the likes of Alcer Lozada, Robert Wusstig, and current ONE FC Korean superstar Bae Young Kwon. Finally signing down exclusively with competitive MMA promotion PXC, a lot of talk was that he’d be close to a title shot.

         “…a belt would certainly be nice. Will Chope (Team Buffet teammate) and I were kind of racing to see who would get to a belt first,” Striegl muses, “…guess I lost that one.”

         One wonders which division he’d be competing at competitively for a championship, and a lot of people believe that a drop to the bantamweight division would be best for him. “Dropping to 135 makes some sense, but I haven’t lost at 145,” he says, “…and the idea of dieting and cutting weight isn’t very pleasant.”

         In any case, before he even considers a drop to 135 lbs or a title shot, he has Harris Sarmiento standing in front of him in a couple weeks and that task is something that could make or break this Fil-Am fighter. In preparation for this fight, he has brought in AJ “Pyro” Lias to join him in Baguio where he trains with Fight Corps MMA.

        

When asked about his training regiment and game-plan, he seemed iffy about giving away too many details. “I typically wake up at 4 am to run… After that I eat breakfast and proceed to chase horses and livestock. Sometimes chickens…like Rocky,” he laughs. “Just kidding…you know I can’t tell you all my ninja secret training methods.

“We have a solid team at Fight Corps MMA and I will be well-prepared for Harris.”

It was just a few short years ago that Mark “Mugen” Striegl got into mixed martial arts. He explained that it was his background in wrestling that made him interested in combat sports. “I got into MMA because I grew up watching PRIDE FC in Japan and thought they were amazing.

“Coming from a wrestling background, I was always interested in combat sports and after high school I had to give MMA a try.”

When asked who his biggest inspiration was in MMA, he had to be all cheesy and said “My family and friends.” (enter waterworks)

“I look up to Fedor and Genki Sudo a lot,” after finally caving in, “Fedor did the unheard of in Pride, and Genki Sudo was the ultimate showman. He was fun to watch, had a tricky style of fighting, and had epic entrances.”

Mark “Mugen” Striegl faces Harris Sarmiento on the 17^th of November at PXC 34, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines.