UFC star Jimi Manuwa on the cusp of Las Vegas title shot against Daniel Cormier or London boxing match-up with David Haye after graduating from Croydon park
Performance of the Night wins against Ovince Saint Preux and Corey Anderson have put him in the UFC headlines again and he is determined to strike while the iron is hot
WHEN JIMI MANUWA stood cageside at UFC 210 in New York and called out champ Daniel Cormier it could not have been further from his first pre-fight preparations.
Just nine years ago the UFC star was a Croydon wideboy with a bad reputation around London clubs and at 28 he was rejected from a boxing gym for being too old.
He’s now 37 and on the verge of a title shot against Cormier or a mega-money boxing showdown with David Haye, after calling him out after his last sensational MMA win.
The turnaround has been rapid, from training in parks in 2008 and fighting in Portsmouth to now being one of the most exciting fighters in the Las Vegas-based UFC.
Manuwa told SunSport: “The difference is crazy and has happened so quickly.
"I remember my first training session, for my first pro fight, was in a park with my mate.
“He brought cones and I was running around the cones and shadow boxing in this park. I was gassing so bad – he was really running me and I was dying.
“I remember my first fight like it was yesterday – I will never forget that first fight.
“I remember being so tired for that first fight, even twenty minutes after the fight I was still blowing and going through an adrenaline dump in the changing room.
“I remember loving it and loving winning – winning by a TKO – that’s what hooked me.
“I remember selling a lot of tickets. Everyone wanted to see my fight because they knew that I could fight.
“I had a mate who used to fight and we were like the terrible twosome around the nightclubs where we used to get in trouble together and cause problems.
“But we were really close and people always knew that I was the dark horse and he was more the loud one.
"He did the fighting I and used to ignore it because I knew I could and didn’t need to prove it.
“But when I used go and watch his fights people would ask ‘when are you fighting?’. I wasn’t interested for ages but when I finally started every one wanted to come and see it. It was great.
“Now I am training with the best in the world – training at Allstars – getting cars out there and staying in hotels, everything is so well structured.
“It is crazy how it has all happened BUT I expected all of it. I expected to be fighting for the belt and having the belt. I expected all of this."
Manuwa’s self-belief might not have waned but his star attraction dimmed in 2015 after two defeats inside 18 months.
Friend Alex Gustafsson and Anthony Rumble Johnson both finished him inside two rounds.
But two Performance of the Night wins against Ovince Saint Preux and Corey Anderson have put him back in the MMA headlines and he is determined to strike while the iron is hot.
Haye is ready to fight Manuwa – a war that will generate life-changing cash – just a few years after British hero Duke McKenzie laughed Manuwa out of his gym for being over the hill.
Manuwa revealed: “I went to start boxing before I started MMA.
“I walked into a gym and said to the trainer I wanted to box and become world champion.
"He turned around and asked how old I was and when I said I was 28 he said I was too old.
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“It was Duke McKenzie’s gym in Croydon and it was actually him who said it to me – you can put that in your article.
“The Haye thing was pre-planned, I knew a couple of weeks before the fight that I was going to call him out.
“I hate predicting that I am going to win because anything can happen inside that cage. But my plan was always to call out David Haye.
“David and I are roughly the same age and he has done big things in boxing but I believe I can knock him out.
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“We don’t have any bad blood but I think it would be a great fight for London – especially in the o2.
“Our paths haven’t really crossed - we were once supposed to do a joint training session with the UFC and he said something I didn’t like.
“He said something like ‘If I hit him I will knock him out’. I thought to myself ‘who does he think he’s talking to?’
“There is something about him that I don’t like but that’s not even the reason for the fight. I believe I can move to boxing and knock him out at his own game.
“The fight can 100 per cent happen. He called me last week and we spoke on the phone and he wants to make the fight happen.
“That’s an option and I like options, it’s bad when you haven’t got them and have to do as you’re told.”
Another option is Jon ‘Bones' Jones – the disgraced drugs cheat regarded by plenty of MMA fans as the greatest of all time.
Manuwa was inspired coming into the sport by Jones – a beautiful fighter with an embarrassment of talent – but he believes he is ready to complete his journey from Croydon park to world domination.
He said: “I feel I am at my peak. I am coming off the back of two great knock-out wins and finally everything is coming together.
“I feel I am at the pinnacle of my career now and I have nothing but big fights.
“I will fight Jones 100 per cent, who would not want to fight one of the best to ever step in the octagon – maybe the best ever.
“But I believe – if I touch Jon Jones right – he is going to sleep. I don’t think he can take a punch.
“I know what I would do, he is a great fighter but if I face him I will definitely shock the world.”