Babajimi Abiola "Jimi" Manuwa (born 18 February 1980) is an American-born English retired

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

of Nigerian descent who competed in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Early life

Manuwa was born in California and lived there until three when his father moved the family back to Nigeria. He moved to London, England at ten. He got in trouble as a teen and did not finish school. After being convicted of conspiracy to burgle, he was sent to prison in 2002 and got out in 2003.

Mixed martial arts career

Manuwa began training in mixed martial arts in 2007, following a weight lifting injury where he ruptured a chest muscle. He currently trains at Keddles Gym with Alan Keddle and Dino Miringou and at Nova Força BJJ with Ricardo da Silva.

UCMMA

Manuwa began fighting for

UCMMA Ultimate Challenge MMA (also referred to as UCMMA) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It is shown live on London Live in the UK, Fight Now TV in the US and on Viewster in several other countries. History The collapse ...

name in only his third professional fight, becoming the promotion's champion in his third fight under them. He successfully defended his title 5 times, more than any other champion in the company, past or present. During this time period, Manuwa famously turned down a contract offer from the

, feeling it wasn't the right time in his career to accept it. He did state that reaching the UFC was his "ultimate goal" in the future. He was then offered to fight at the

UFC 138 ''UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 5, 2011 at LG Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the United S ...

event, but also refused that one, citing that he hadn't competed since summer of 2010, and that "If he fought on the October card that would have been after a fifteen-month layoff, which is not ideal under any circumstances. You do need to be fighting regularly to stay sharp..." He successfully defended his title for the fifth time at UCMMA 24: Hands of War, against Nick Chapman.

BAMMA

After defending his title a record 5th time, Manuwa signed a four fight, exclusive contract with

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

. He made his debut at BAMMA 8. He faced Frenchman Antony Rea and won the fight via TKO.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Having turned down a UFC contract a few years previously, Manuwa signed with the promotion in July 2012. Manuwa made his UFC debut against TUF 8 contestant Kyle Kingsbury at

UFC on Fuel TV 5 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Struve vs. Miocic'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 5'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 29, 2012, at Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Background Jörg ...

, winning after 2 rounds by TKO due to doctor stoppage. The stoppage was declared after Kingsbury's left eye had swollen shut. For his second fight with the promotion, Manuwa faced Cyrille Diabaté on 16 February 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald. Manuwa was declared the winner (TKO) after Diabaté was unable to continue after tearing a calf muscle near the end of the first round. Manuwa returned to face

Ryan Jimmo Ryan Jimmo (November 27, 1981 – June 26, 2016) was a Canadian mixed martial artist who competed in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He mostly fought in Canada and competed on the eighth season of ''The Ult ...

on 26 October 2013 at

UFC Fight Night 30 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. For the second time in a row, Manuwa's opponent injured his leg during the fight and this resulted in a TKO victory for Manuwa. Manuwa faced

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. Gustafsson currently competes in the light heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA ...

at UFC Fight Night 37 on 8 March 2014. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. Both participants were awarded a ''Fight of the Night'' bonus for the fight. Manuwa was expected to face

Maurício Rua Maurício Milani Rua (; born 25 November 1981), also known as Shogun, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former model. He competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former ...

UFC Fight Night 56 ''UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 56'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Ginásio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlândia, Brazil, on November 8, 2014. Background After previously holding ev ...

on 8 November 2014 in Brazil. However, on 29 October, it was announced that Manuwa had pulled out of the fight due to an injury, and that Ovince St. Preux would replace him against Rua. After over a year away from the sport, Manuwa returned to face

Jan Błachowicz Jan Maciej Błachowicz (; born 24 February 1983) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Cham ...

on 11 April 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 64 ''UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 64'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 11, 2015, at the Tauron Arena Kraków in Kraków, Poland. Background The event was the first that the organization has ...

. Manuwa won the fight via unanimous decision, going the distance for the first and only time in his MMA career. Manuwa faced Anthony Johnson on 5 September 2015 at UFC 191. He lost the fight via knockout early in the second round. Manuwa was briefly linked to a matchup with

Nikita Krylov Nikita Andreyevich Krylov (born March 7, 1992) is a Ukrainian-Russian mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2012, he has also competed for M-1 Global. As ...

on 27 February 2016 at UFC Fight Night 84. However, Manuwa was scratched from the contest with an undisclosed injury in late December, causing the bout to be cancelled. Manuwa faced

Ovince Saint Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, Saint Preux has also formerly competed for Strikef ...

on 8 October 2016 at

UFC 204 ''UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on October 8, 2016 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Background This was the fourth UFC event contested in Man ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the second round and was awarded a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Manuwa was briefly linked to a bout with Glover Teixeira at

UFC 208 ''UFC 208: Holm vs. de Randamie'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on February 11, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Background The event was originally scheduled to take pla ...

. However, the pairing was scrapped and Manuwa eventually faced Corey Anderson on 18 March 2017 in the main event at UFC Fight Night 107. Manuwa won the fight via knockout in the first round, after briefly dropping Anderson with a jab and then finishing him with a single left hook. He was awarded a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Manuwa faced Volkan Oezdemir on 29 July 2017 at

UFC 214 ''UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and held on July 29, 2017 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background A PPV event was initially planned for Anaheim on Janu ...

. He lost the fight by knockout in the first round. Manuwa faced

in a rematch on 17 March 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 127 ''UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 127'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on March 17, 2018, at The O2 Arena in London, England. Background A heavy ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Both participants were awarded ''Fight of the Night'' for their performance. Manuwa was expected to face Glover Teixeira on 22 September 2018 at UFC Fight Night 137. However, Glover Teixeira pulled out this bout after suffering an injury. He was replaced by

Thiago Santos Thiago Santos de Lima (born January 7, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing in the light heavyweight division. Prior to signing with the PFL, Santos competed for the U ...

. In turn, Manuwa was removed from the fight during the week leading up to the event due to a torn hamstring and replaced by

Eryk Anders Eryk Ryan Anders (born April 21, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former American football linebacker. He competes in the Middleweight division of the UFC. He played college football at the University of Alabama. Ear ...

. Manuwa faced

on 8 December 2018 at UFC 231. He lost the fight via knockout in round two. Manuwa faced

Aleksandar Rakić Aleksandar Rakić (born February 6, 1992) is an Austrian mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2011, Rakić has also competed for the Fi ...

on 1 June 2019 at UFC Fight Night 153. He lost the fight via knockout due to a head kick in the first round. Manuwa announced his retirement on 3 June 2019.

Personal life

Manuwa's parents are Nigerian however he was born in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and spent his early years in Nigeria before settling in London at the age of 10.

MTV UK MTV is a British pay television channel focusing on reality TV and music programming operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. MTV UK (previously MTV UK & ...

did a documentary on MMA in the UK, with Manuwa,

Jack Marshman Jack Robert Marshman (born December 19, 1989) is a retired Welsh professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has competed for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), BAMMA a ...

and Cory Tait being filmed in the build-ups of their fights and the training and lifestyles involved. In 2014, Manuwa showed off his tattoos for

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, ...

's anti-fur "Ink Not Mink" ad campaign. Jimi was imprisoned for his role in a burglary ring in 2002. He was released in 2003.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

** Fight of the Night (Two times) vs.

and

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

(Two time) vs.

and Corey Anderson *

Ultimate Challenge MMA Ultimate Challenge MMA (also referred to as UCMMA) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It is shown live on London Live in the UK, Fight Now TV in the US and on Viewster in several other countries. History The collapse ...

** UCMMA Light heavyweight Championship (One time; first) **Five successful title defenses *

MMAjunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''The N ...

** 2018 Round of the Year (Round 1) vs.

** 2018 December Fight of the Month vs. Thiago Santos

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 17–6 ,

, KO (head kick) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Smith , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:42 , Stockholm, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 17–5 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC 231 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:41 ,

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 17–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England , , - , - , Loss , align=center, 17–3 , Volkan Oezdemir , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:42 ,

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 17–2 , Corey Anderson , KO (punch) , UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:05 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 16–2 ,

, KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:38 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–2 , Anthony Johnson , KO (punches) , UFC 191 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:28 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–1 ,

, TKO (knee and punches) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:18 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 14–0 ,

, TKO (leg injury) , UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:41 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0 , Cyrille Diabaté , TKO (retirement) , UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 , Kyle Kingsbury , TKO (doctor stoppage) , UFC on Fuel TV: Struve vs. Miocic , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Antony Rea , TKO (retirement) , BAMMA 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Nick Chapman , TKO (knees) , UCMMA 24: Hands of War , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Valentino Petrescu , KO (punch) , UCMMA 14: Invincible , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:08 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Reza Meldavian , TKO (punches) , UCMMA 12: Never Back Down , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:19 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Shaun Lomas , TKO (punches) , UCMMA 9: Fighting for Heroes , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:58 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Luke Blythe , KO (punch) , UCMMA 6: Payback , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:22 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Ryan Robinson , TKO (punches) , UCMMA 4: Relentless , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:03 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jamie Hearn , Submission (guillotine choke) , UCMMA 2: Unbreakable , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:49 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Chris Greig , TKO (punches) , UCMMA 1: Unbreakable , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:35 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Dave Rintoul , TKO (punch) , FX3 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:10 ,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Tom King , TKO (punches) , FCFN 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:25 , ,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, England ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manuwa, Jimi 1980 births English male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people Sportspeople from California English people of Nigerian descent American emigrants to the United Kingdom English people of Yoruba descent English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American people of Yoruba descent American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Yoruba sportspeople Black British sportspeople American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters