Jimi Manuwa Explains Why He’s Considering Jump To Different Weight Class
Top light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa was likely in line for a title shot against champion Daniel Cormier due to lack of title contenders. However, that all changed when the biggest fight announcement was made at the UFC’s Summer Kickoff event last Friday as Cormier vs. Jon Jones 2 will take place at UFC 214. The idea was that if Jones could not fight Cormier at the event, then the hard hitting UK fighter would be Cormier’s opponent at the event.
Now that Jones is back in and Manuwa is back in the wings, he will need to be the backup for this fight in case Jon tests positive for drugs or drives into something while drunk.
It’s still not clear whether Manuwa will be fighting on the UFC 214 card in August or simply training for the possibility is unclear. It all comes down to what the UFC wants to do with him as there is 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.”
There are a ton of opponents for him at either middleweight or heavyweight, which could lead to a fun fight. Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold was talking about messing around at a different weight class, so it’s possible that he’s just the kind of fighter that might expose the talent gap between 185 and 205.
Time will tell how all of this plays out.
