Interview by Mike Valentine
Hector Munoz is back in North Texas, and I caught up with him at NDBJJ, where he began his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training and received his black belt under the tutelage of JD Shelley. Hector has since gone on to open his own successful gym in Corpus Christi, Full Contact Fight Academy. He has been splitting his time between the third coast and Greg Jackson’s gym in New Mexico, and is training hard for the first single-night tournament held in the United States in 15 years. 
Back in Dallas
“Right now I’m training for the Shine Promotions tournament. It’s September 10 in Virginia, it’s going to be an 8-man tourney at 155lb for $50,000. All three fights will be that night with 2-5 minute rounds. I know for sure they are having Marcus Aurelio, Drew Fickett, and Carlo Prater along with myself, those are three tough guys right there.
I’ve got about 15 of my students competing at Grappler’s Quest this weekend from down south, and I know a lot of people had come up to see me compete, but now that my fight has been moved up from the 18th to the 10th it sped everything up a week. I’m under contract so that I can’t compete in anything else.”
Training at Jackson’s
“I’ll be heading back to (Greg) Jackson’s after this. Training at 6,000 feet, and then where I’m staying with Cowboy (Donald Cerrone) and Leonard (Garcia) at the Tapout Ranch is at 8,000 feet, training at that high altitude makes a huge difference.
I want to stay in Texas, I don’t think I want to move out there permanently. The thing about Jackson’s, it’s a hardcore camp, and it’s there to get you ready for your fight. A lot of your technical training I think you have to do at your home school. That’s why I’m back here in Dallas, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to work on technique and have someone correcting me. At Jackson’s, it’s a shark tank, every time you step on the mat it’s a fight, which is good because most gyms don’t have that. Here at JD’s, he’s able to break things down and let me know what I’m doing wrong. Bring the two training styles together, I really feel invincible.”
