Issue 110

January 2014

Intriguing to see the reaction to Jimi Manuwa being announced as the next opponent for Alex Gustafsson. It was 90% positive on the daylight forums, although the underground had opposing views: ‘Too soon, not good enough, bad main event.’

Gareth A Davies

MMA and Boxing Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, London, on Gustafsson vs. Manuwa and a new women’s weight class

Yet the truth is we really don’t know – but the potential for a great fight is there. And let’s be honest, who really cared about ‘Lil Nog’ versus Gustafsson? Now Manuwa gets a real test. That’s the bottom line. 

And it also shows that the UFC is ready for a major push with its EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) brand. Manuwa, unbeaten in his 14-fight MMA career and in his first three UFC contests, has been afforded a golden ticket with the challenge against 205lb top contender Gustafsson. 

It’s made all the more important with the fight booked for London’s O2 Arena – the prospect will get his big chance in his hometown. It’ll be just one of the evening’s many storylines. 

Yes, it could be a major ask for Manuwa in terms of experience and how he’ll deal with any pressure he might have to face, but the contest elevates ‘The Poster Boy’ into a position whereby he could be challenging for the UFC title within two fights. Remember, no British fighter in the brand’s 20-year history has held UFC gold.

Yet the bigger picture, if Manuwa can pull off an upset at the March 8th Fight Night event, is that another European fighter will be front, center and middle in a division which remains blue riband on the back of the dominant champion in Jon Jones. So much rests on the performance in London – for both men.

Gustafsson will want to show he’s on a different level. While Manuwa will need to prove he belongs in the top 10, and that might mean taking it to Gustfasson. 

Manuwa intimated to me that he can knock the Swede out. It’s what you’d expect from a fighter with a record of 13 wins by either KO or TKO. But one of Manuwa’s biggest tests could well be going beyond the second round for the first time in his career.

Momentum is individual, as well as collective for a company in fight sports. Growth promotionally, as well as commercially, remains just as important. Brand leaders are needed in Europe. 

When Gustafsson challenged Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title (UFC 165), the Swede shocked the world in what’s being touted as one of the greatest fights ever. That five-round war saw the Swede’s stock soar.  

Gustafsson, who has recently been to China to assist the UFC in launching The Ultimate Fighter over there, has promised to put on “a hell of a show” with Manuwa. 

It augurs well for the EMEA, with Conor McGregor expected back in action in the second quarter of next year, Michael Bisping due back at the same time and Brad Pickett moving to flyweight – and pushing for a berth in London, too. 

Alongside that, UFC’s EMEA head Garry Cook has floated the idea of a TUF series being held in the UK, which would bring new names into the limelight. 

And that was always the intention when The Ultimate Fighter 1 was created. It brought to our attention not only light heavyweights Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, but also then-middleweights, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian and Josh Koscheck. All went on to become mainstream names.

Could a significant new boom for the UFC, like the one the company benefited from in the US several years ago and is currently relishing in Brazil, be on the horizon for Britain? Maybe. 

It’s Time for a UFC women’s STRAwweight division

The drama, quality and standard of every one of the women’s fights in the UFC bantamweight division (135lb) during its 10-month history merits more. So it’s appropriate that UFC president Dana White has indicated a strawweight division (115lb) will be created under the UFC umbrella for the ladies.  

Within the current 135lb division there is clearly a disparity in size between the likes of, say, Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann against fighters such as Rosi Sexton. That’s one of the hazards of the UFC having a single female division to which entry is much desired. 

Indeed, in conversation recently with Gemma Gibbons, Great Britain’s judo silver medalist from the London Olympic Games, she revealed she’d fought Rousey twice – and lost – at 170lb. 

Now, with the strawweight division, at least ladies light for 135lb who want to get a taste of the UFC dream have the choice of doing so in a class that may be better suited to their build.  

Incidentally, Gibbons talked about potentially stepping into MMA after the Rio Olympics in 2016. Given the poor job prospects in women’s combat sports outside MMA, we can only expect more of the great female fighters from the martial arts to sign on the dotted line.