The UFC have confirmed that the UK’s KO specialist Jimi “The Posterboy” Manuwa will face heavy hitting Canadian Ryan Jimmo in Manchester on 26th October. After winning his UFC debut in brutal fashion and retiring Kyle Kingsbury followed by his defeat of Cyrille Diabate “The Posterboy” has been notably absent from the cage.
Manuwa is keen to explain, “All the time I’m not fighting I’m getting better. It’s not like I’m not training. I’m working on all my weaknesses so when I do come back in I’m going to be a totally different fighter.” His enthusiasm for his return is clear seeing as though we have yet to see his ground game could we be in for a surprise from what we are used to, someone who clearly relishes his striking ability.
“I’m about half the fighter that I think I will be by the time I get to fight night. I’ve been working on my wrestling I’ve been doing loads of Jiu Jitsu I’m going to be a whole new fighter by the time I get to the top.” explains Manuwa as we cruise around the Croydon streets in his Lambourgini.
It’s evident that Manuwa hasn’t just used his time out of the Octagon to work on just his weaknesses the entrepreneurial spirit he has is evident as it’s clear that he’s also making preparations to shore up his income away from the Octagon.
As we stop at the traffic lights he explains “I like to keep myself busy in between fights and not focus solely on fighting. I’ve got my Lions Pride Gym and I’ve just launched Warrior NRG which is a new 21st Century protein pre and post work out blend there is nothing like it on the market. I’ve just teamed up with a friend of mine and we’ve got a prestige car hire business called Prestige Vision.”
When Manuwa returns to the Octagon one thing is clear his focus, vision and quest to be number one is unswerving it seems nothing has changed for the 33 year old Croydon resident in fact suffice to say when he steps in to meet Ryan Jimmo it will probably be business as usual.
Tickets for UFC Manchester are available now via: Ticketmaster