Lacking decent opponents at 205, Jimi Manuwa is considering fight at a different weight class

The biggest fight announcement made at the UFC’s Summer Kickoff event was Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones 2 at UFC 214, made official after weeks of speculation. Waiting in the wings on that one was hard hitting UK fighter Jimi Manuwa, who was set to be Cormier’s opponent if Jones wasn’t willing to step right back in against the current champ.

But Jones did step in, and now Jimi is back in the wings. According to Dana White, he’ll be placed on backup just in case Jon tests positive for drugs or drives into something while drunk again. Whether that means Manuwa will be fighting on the UFC 214 card in August or simply training for the possibility is unclear. We suppose it depends on the UFC being able to get him a suitable opponent. There’s not exactly a glut of options at light heavyweight right now.

“I need to move forward now, but there’s only Gus, Teixeira, Jones or DC and they are all fighting each other,” Manuwa told Champions.co in a new interview. “We will have to see how everything plays out and that … I asked for Shogun, but he said no because he’s injured or something until September. There is literally just no one for me to fight. We’re just going to have to see, you know.”

“I don’t want to wait around right now. I’m in my prime and I’ve got momentum with my last two wins. I don’t want to wait. I’ve been thinking about going up or going down. Right now I’m at 104kg, so I can go up or I can go down. All options are open. I’m just working hard and staying ready.”

Opponents at middleweight and heavyweight certainly open up the field of potential opponents significantly, although we wonder whether it’s smart to consider a fight with all the killers floating around at middleweight right now. Luke Rockhold was talking about messing around at a different weight class, and he’s just the kind of fighter that might expose the talent gap between top 185 and 205ers these days.

The biggest fight announcement made at the UFC’s Summer Kickoff event was Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones 2 at UFC 214, made official after weeks of speculation. Waiting in the wings on that one was hard hitting UK fighter Jimi Manuwa, who was set to be Cormier’s opponent if Jones wasn’t willing to step right back in against the current champ.

But Jones did step in, and now Jimi is back in the wings. According to Dana White, he’ll be placed on backup just in case Jon tests positive for drugs or drives into something while drunk again. Whether that means Manuwa will be fighting on the UFC 214 card in August or simply training for the possibility is unclear. We suppose it depends on the UFC being able to get him a suitable opponent. There’s not exactly a glut of options at light heavyweight right now.

“I need to move forward now, but there’s only Gus, Teixeira, Jones or DC and they are all fighting each other,” Manuwa told Champions.co in a new interview. “We will have to see how everything plays out and that … I asked for Shogun, but he said no because he’s injured or something until September. There is literally just no one for me to fight. We’re just going to have to see, you know.”

“I don’t want to wait around right now. I’m in my prime and I’ve got momentum with my last two wins. I don’t want to wait. I’ve been thinking about going up or going down. Right now I’m at 104kg, so I can go up or I can go down. All options are open. I’m just working hard and staying ready.”

Opponents at middleweight and heavyweight certainly open up the field of potential opponents significantly, although we wonder whether it’s smart to consider a fight with all the killers floating around at middleweight right now. Luke Rockhold was talking about messing around at a different weight class, and he’s just the kind of fighter that might expose the talent gap between top 185 and 205ers these days.