Jimi Manuwa wants in on the UFC 205-pound title sweepstakes.
The Englishmen is currently on a two-fight win streak in which he finished both of his opponents via knockout. He defeated Ovince Saint Preux with a vicious second round knockout, followed by a first round knockout performance against Corey Anderson in London this past March.
Current UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier exchanged worlds with Manuwa over social media briefly after his win over Anthony Johnson last month. Instead of booking a bout between “DC” and Manuwa, however, the returning Jon Jones will instead challenge the former Olympian for the throne, rekindling their longtime rivalry.
Jones and Cormier are expected to meet in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29th this summer in Anaheim, California, with Manuwa on standby just in case one fighter can’t make it.
Cormier and “Bones” have spewed out a plethora of verbal jabs at one another in the midst of their rematch, as Jones defeated Cormier back in January of 2015, but Manuwa has no interest in partaking in a war of words in the lead-up to battle. He compared Cormier and Jones’ back-and-forth banter to what you’d see in the WWE (quotes via Bloody Elbow):
“They’re trying to sell the fight, but it’s just trash talking—WWE s*it and that,” Manuwa said. “We all know they don’t like each other, but it is what it is, you know. I don’t buy into any of that trash talking and sh*t. I just let my fighting do the talking—I don’t put up with trash talk and I respect all the athletes.”
“Trust me, if anyone says anything, I always come back with full force and that. That’s why I don’t do any trash talking. I take this seriously, and I know myself and I know what my temper is like. I prefer face-to-face confrontation, so I like to keep calm and let my fighting do the talking—legally.”
When asked for a prediction on the bout, Manuwa admits he has a hard time deciding but leans towards Jones who already holds a victory over the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product:
“I don’t really know—I think it all depends on Jon Jones and what Jon Jones turns up,” Manuwa said. “It depends whether he’s rusty or whether he’s back to his best. We will have to see. I can see Cormier making it a hard night for Jones, but I dunno, it all sits with Jones. He didn’t look too great against OSP, but then again, Jones always has problems with fighters that are the same height as him. I predicted that Jones would have a few problem with OSP.”
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