When UFC management announced the main event of their March 18th London event, half of the headliner was absolutely no surprise. Coming off of a huge knockout with over former title challenger, Ovince St. Preux, Jimi Manuwa’s stock has never been higher. Training out of London, it only made sense to see ‘Poster Boy’ get the nod to lead the card. However, his counterpart did come as somewhat of a surprise.
Having proven he was ready to stake his claim in the top 5 of the light heavyweight division, some expected Manuwa to face one of the division perennial elite. Instead, fast-rising prospect Corey Anderson, who is now ranked 7 in the UFC’s official ranking, got the spot.
I did want a bigger name, Manuwa admitted in a recent interview with Top Turtle MMA Podcast. But Corey Anderson is a great fighter. I’m not looking past him.
The failure to get a bigger name wasn’t for lack of trying by Manuwa, his management or the UFC. According to Manuwa, the paperwork was all drawn up and signed for a match with top talent Glover Teixeira, but something fell through.
I was looking forward to fighting [Glover] already, and I don’t think that he wanted to fight [me], said Manuwa, adding he was never given a reason why the fight didn’t go through. However, looking at Glover’s next booking, it was clear to Manuwa that Teixeira wasn’t looking to fight a top-ranked opponent.
He just fought the number 15 ranked guy in his last fight and he’s ranked number 3, which makes no sense to me,” said Manuwa.
After the loss of the Glover fight, Manuwa said his management pressed for fights with Ryan Bader and Shogun Rua, both of which fell through for their own reasons. Despite being disappointed with the failed bookings, Manuwa says he’s no longer interested in fighting Glover.
I’m not looking for the Glover fight after this, no,” he said. “If I beat Corey Anderson, I’ll be looking for the winner of DC and ‘Rumble’ Johnson or maybe welcome back Jon Jones.
To hear more about Manuwa’s thoughts on the 205lbs division and his quest for a title shot, listen to the whole interview below [interview starts at 31:30].
Author Daniel Vreeland is a co-founder of the Top Turtle Podcast, and a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu at New England Submission Fighting in Amherst, Massachusetts.
