Mark Mugen Striegl started training for martial arts at a young age because of his brother.
“I have one older brother named Frank, and when we were growing up, he started practicing martial arts.
"Like younger brothers, I thought he looked really cool, so I copied him and that is basically how I got started,” he told One Championship in 2016.
Years later, Mark “Mugen” Striegl has become one of the most popular professional fighters in the Philippines.
And with his starring turn in Netflix’s reality competition Physical: Asia, the spotlight on him is expected to shine even brighter.
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MULTINATIONAL BACKGROUND
Mark was born in Tokyo, Japan, on June 23, 1988, to Frank Striegl, his German-American father, and Sonia Martinez, a Filipina who hails from Oriental Mindoro.
Both were teachers at an international school.
His real name is Mark Striegl, but he had to adapt Mugen as a nickname because many of his peers found it hard to pronounce his name.
Mugen is a Japanese word for "limitless."
While growing up in Tokyo, he began idolizing the MMA fighters that he saw on TV.
“My childhood heroes quickly became these fighters that I would see on TV, and sometimes even bump into in the city if I was lucky,” he told One Championship.
Mark then started training with his older brother.
He also learned to master wrestling, aikido, and taekwondo.
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A FIGHTER AT SCHOOL
While in school, Mark joined a wrestling team, where he already showed an impressive record of 77 wins and 1 defeat.
Later, Mark’s family moved to the United States, where he attended college—first at the University of San Diego in California, then at Point Loma Nazarene University.
College gave Mark the opportunity to try his hand at MMA.
As an amateur fighter, he compiled an impressive 10–1 record.
Mark also had notable fights in other fighting leagues, including ONE Championship, which is among the world's largest martial arts organization, and the Universal Reality Combat Championship, the longest-running mixed martial arts promotion in Asia.
Mark was thankful that his parents did not get in the way of his passion for contact sports.
Mark told celebrity chef Tatung Sarthou in a 2024 interview: “They didn’t worry a lot because they realized that I trained hard, and that I was very good at it. It was always like that. I had very supportive parents. Very lucky, fortunate. I didn’t have that much pushback because I was always winning."
UNDEFEATED AND AGGRESSIVE
Mark began his professional MMA career in 2009, when he joined a Total Combat event in San Diego.
Here, he demolished American fighter Andy Jewett with a rear-naked choke to claim victory.
Then, in just three years, the Filipino fighter quickly made a name in the sport due to his impressive 12-0 record.
Mark has a very aggressive fighting style.
“Most of my opponents, I’ve climbed on their backs, choked them out, or got some kind of submission through a lock or maneuver.
"Whether I’m swinging or going for takedown, I’m very aggressive, in your face, explosive.
"I focus a lot on footwork and explosiveness. I’m a fast-twitch fighter,” the MMA champion told the late Ricky Lo in an interview in 2016.
A PROUD FILIPINO
Mark currently resides in Baguio.
He thinks the fresh mountain air helps him be a good fighter.
“Even just walking around is a workout. It's good for your strength and conditioning,” he told Yahoo News in 2013.
He also regularly trains with his teammates on the Philippine national sambo team.
Sambo is a form of wrestling.
Mark won a gold medal for the Philippines in the sambo event at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
He admitted that, despite his multinational roots, he feels more in tune with his Filipino side.
“Even though I’m American, I relate a lot more to my Filipino side. After college, I moved back to the Philippines. I moved up to Baguio on a whim. I’ve been living there for the past five to six years. So, I’m more Filipino than American,” he told Orange Magazine in 2016.
FAMILY MAN
Aside from his athletic prowess, Mark is also admired for his good looks and fit physique.
In fact, one of the most viral moments in Physical: Asia was when Thai contestant James Rusameekae shouted “wow” upon seeing Mark in the battle arena.
Mark, however, is already taken and is no longer looking for love.
The Filipino athlete is dedicated to his wife Starr Cabuco-Striegl, a former member of the Ateneo Lady Eagles, who now runs her own school in Baguio.
They have two children.
Mark regularly posts their affectionate moments on his social-media accounts.
He also helps Starr in their family-owned school as a physical education instructor.
“Classes are always packed when it is Mark doing the teaching,” Starr told Philippine Star in an interview in 2022.