UFC London’s Jimi Manuwa: ‘Corey Anderson has got a whole lot of rage coming to him’

UFC London headliner Jimi Manuwa spoke about his main event fight with Corey Anderson, as well as why he prefers Anthony Johnson beats Daniel Cormier at UFC 210.

With all of the notable UFC draws booked, it now falls to London-based Jimi Manuwa to provide the main event five round attraction for what is set to be a capacity crowd at The O2 Arena. It’s the second time that Manuwa will top a UFC London card, and he only had to ask once to get this spot.

“I asked for it and it was done no questions asked,” Manuwa told BloodyElbow.com. “I texted Dana and told him I felt I should have been main event in London. Who else is going to be main event? I’m ranked #5 in the world and that speaks for itself. The deal was done the same day.”

“Nothing has changed for me other than now I’m the main fight of the night. I’m going to put on a performance as usual. I believe I should have been main event anyway. I don’t know whether they were struggling so I put a call in.”

In the course of discussion, we naturally moved onto his preparations for his opponent, #9 ranked Corey Anderson. Manuwa’s tone, demeanor, and cadence took a pretty chilling direction.

“He knows what’s coming to him and that’s it,” Manuwa said.

“Corey Anderson has got a whole lot of rage coming to him. I’m pissed off. I’m missing my children, I miss London. Anderson is on my mind constantly, I think about him when I go to sleep and he’s gonna pay. He’s gonna pay for it when we meet face to face.”

“Everyone knows that I don’t mess about,” Manuwa continued. “I was watching Chris Eubank today and he said ‘it’s only a sport to a spectator, to me it’s not a game, we can get hurt in there.’ For me I’m in there against another man who is trained to hurt me it’s not a sport I’m taking it seriously in there and I’m coming at them with full force.”

With his attention set firmly on taking out his next opponent, Manuwa is clear on his long-term aspirations of lifting the light heavyweight belt around his waist by the end of 2017. In the meantime, whilst never one to choose his next opponent, he does have a preferred winner between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson.

“I would prefer Rumble to win as he’s more of an exciting fighter,” Manuwa said. “Cormier is a boring fighter. I don’t like watching him fight, I’d like to fight him at some point but I would love a rematch with Johnson. I’m leaning more toward Cormier winning though as he is tough enough to withstand the onslaught of Johnson.”

UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson streams live on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday, March 18th.

UFC London headliner Jimi Manuwa spoke about his main event fight with Corey Anderson, as well as why he prefers Anthony Johnson beats Daniel Cormier at UFC 210.

With all of the notable UFC draws booked, it now falls to London-based Jimi Manuwa to provide the main event five round attraction for what is set to be a capacity crowd at The O2 Arena. It’s the second time that Manuwa will top a UFC London card, and he only had to ask once to get this spot.

“I asked for it and it was done no questions asked,” Manuwa told BloodyElbow.com. “I texted Dana and told him I felt I should have been main event in London. Who else is going to be main event? I’m ranked #5 in the world and that speaks for itself. The deal was done the same day.”

“Nothing has changed for me other than now I’m the main fight of the night. I’m going to put on a performance as usual. I believe I should have been main event anyway. I don’t know whether they were struggling so I put a call in.”

In the course of discussion, we naturally moved onto his preparations for his opponent, #9 ranked Corey Anderson. Manuwa’s tone, demeanor, and cadence took a pretty chilling direction.

“He knows what’s coming to him and that’s it,” Manuwa said.

“Corey Anderson has got a whole lot of rage coming to him. I’m pissed off. I’m missing my children, I miss London. Anderson is on my mind constantly, I think about him when I go to sleep and he’s gonna pay. He’s gonna pay for it when we meet face to face.”

“Everyone knows that I don’t mess about,” Manuwa continued. “I was watching Chris Eubank today and he said ‘it’s only a sport to a spectator, to me it’s not a game, we can get hurt in there.’ For me I’m in there against another man who is trained to hurt me it’s not a sport I’m taking it seriously in there and I’m coming at them with full force.”

With his attention set firmly on taking out his next opponent, Manuwa is clear on his long-term aspirations of lifting the light heavyweight belt around his waist by the end of 2017. In the meantime, whilst never one to choose his next opponent, he does have a preferred winner between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson.

“I would prefer Rumble to win as he’s more of an exciting fighter,” Manuwa said. “Cormier is a boring fighter. I don’t like watching him fight, I’d like to fight him at some point but I would love a rematch with Johnson. I’m leaning more toward Cormier winning though as he is tough enough to withstand the onslaught of Johnson.”

UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson streams live on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday, March 18th.