The home coming of the Poster Boy: Jimi Manuwa

Guardian Nigeria

Discover the incredible journey of "The Poster Boy," Jimi Manuwa! Dive into his unexpected rise in mixed martial arts, from an injury in weightlifting to a legendary career.  Hear how a natural talent for fighting, combined with an adventurous spirit forged in Lagos, led to a fearless mentality in the octagon. Manuwa revolutionized the sport with his explosive style, earning him the title "Knockout King."  Explore the transition to the elite levels of MMA and the mental fortitude required to compete against the best. This is a story of passion, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of success in one of the world's toughest sports.  #JimiManuwa #MMARising #KnockoutKing

Transcript

00:03one of the best way to succeed in life is to study those who succeed and imitate them then

00:08look at those who fail and avoid their mistake talking about success mr. Jimmy manua is in the

00:13house and we're happy to have you mr. Jimmy nice to have you here today nice to meet you nice

00:18time

00:18so our viewers would like to know you know you started your career a bit late you know what

00:22really led to that well I think it was just a natural transition into mixed martial arts okay

00:29and my friend started to start to fight a few years before I started and so we used to go

00:42and watch

00:42him fight but everyone kind of knew that I was a natural fighter right in there so I used to

00:49go

00:49and watch you used to go and watch him and then like um everyone was saying oh when are you

00:54gonna

00:54start this is this is your your style when are you gonna start and I think well at the time

00:59I was

01:00into weightlifting and and those kind of things okay and that so unfortunately I had an injury weight

01:10lifting and now I tore my my pec muscle when I was doing my maximum lift okay and so during

01:18that recovery

01:18my mom asked my friends I said I let me come and try this mixed martial arts and everything so

01:24I went

01:25on a Monday I liked it we did kickboxing and stuff I like the physical aspect of it and that

01:31and then I

01:32went on a Tuesday and I we did jiu-jitsu and wrestling you know and I also like that as

01:37well so I

01:38went on a Wednesday on a Thursday and then on the Friday I said I said to my friend now

01:45get me a fight

01:46I like this get me a fight wow so he came back on the weekend and said okay I got

01:51your fight it's in

01:52two weeks so I didn't really have any much training than that so well where I knew I had a

01:57fight coming

01:58up I trained every day for the for the next two weeks until my fight and then um where everyone

02:05was excited for my fight I went to my debut it was a professional fight it wasn't even an amateur

02:11one

02:11is a bit like my first professional fight so um I went with about 20 cars full of all my

02:20friends

02:21yeah just to cheer you home yeah just to cheer me on because they knew that it was my kind

02:25of style

02:25it's just that so um I won that fight it was a great experience I was very very tired after

02:34the

02:34first round and that and um I beat I beat I beat him in the first round and I just

02:40remember recovering

02:42after the fight like all my adrenaline came down and everything I was like for about an hour I was

02:48out

02:48of breath for about an hour and then um yeah I liked it so much and I just carry I

02:53just carried

02:53on wonderful now you you were born in the United States of America yeah then raised in Lagos yeah

02:59I wouldn't say how much have those things impacted your career so far the way you were raised you

03:04know coming going to MMA yeah um I think growing up in Lagos I was very I was very active

03:13I've got

03:14nothing but good memories from from growing up in Lagos going to school in a papaya and living in

03:19Sulere and uh I've got nothing but good memories I was a very active child and everything so I think

03:28that impacted I was very adventurous and everything my my auntie my mum my dad can tell you loads of

03:35stories from me riding my bike and getting into mischief and I think that active and that adventurous

03:41uh streak in in my nature led to me having a solid uh fearless background you know fairly fearless

03:52mentality hmm and now yeah on the ship what you go into in the future yes I see you you

03:59were known as

04:00a knockout king how did you come about that nickname my name there was a poster boy and that and

04:07that came

04:07came from that came from I think my first fight when they gave me the posters to go and promote

04:14my

04:14fight and everything yeah the poster boy yeah moving on from that um I wanted to be the poster boy

04:20of

04:22mixed martial arts where I came from yeah and that you know and um all the knockouts translated into that

04:30name as well you know because everyone knew that everyone knew that when they come to see me fight

04:36that is nothing but excitement and and um what's the word if you can use and and just and just

04:44not

04:44and just pure knockouts because I've got 17 wins 15 of those are knockouts wow and that's massive and tko's

04:52and I've only got I only went to the decision twice and now with the same person the the future

04:58champion

04:59of the ufc so um okay you see you were on the future at certain times you know when you

05:04started

05:04this yeah yeah but when you started meeting top opposition from the top tier competitors things a

05:10little bit change what really happened well these you're not doing right then no because I think I think

05:19when you can when you get to the ufc and that ev all the fighters so everyone knows how to

05:24do

05:24everything so it's just the little details that separate the winner from the loser loser and then

05:31I think I think a lot of the time it's the mental aspect of or of training and that's something

05:37that

05:37I never I never um I never took on was a mental aspect the the the the psychological training the

05:47mental training and stuff like that you know so um I think that's what separates the top tier

05:53fighters it's just like the mental aspect of it because everyone knows how to do everything

05:57you know so yeah one of the biggest fights that you had there was Anthony Johnson what are things

06:03that you can remember about this fight now if you remember your memory even if you grew up to be

06:07100

06:07years old um I think that was at the MGM in Las Vegas I think I think that was my

06:18first fight in

06:20Vegas and um it was very daunting being uh being shipped from from London to Vegas to go like on

06:34the main

06:34stage and everything and um you know what we were both knockout specialists he was a knockout specialist

06:43I was a knockout specialist at the time and um you know I think it was just nerves I think

06:51it was just

06:52probably the first one to connect is that was gonna win the fight you know we're both one punch

06:57knockout specialist and now so it's the first one to to to connect you know what's that yeah but we're

07:03great friends before and after the fight Anthony Johnson was a was a was a great athlete and I respect

07:10him very much and he respects me very much and everything we've got we became good friends after

07:15after the fight yeah okay did you when did you ever feel so close to your title shot the UFC

07:21and what actually had you back when did you ever feel so close I was I was I was ranked

07:27number three

07:27in the world and um out my fight with

07:36Corey Anderson Corey Anderson in um in in in the O2 arena in London was um probably one of my

07:44best

07:45one of my favorite knockouts it was it was in the O2 arena I was the main event in my

07:51in my

07:53then hometown of of London and uh knocked him out in the first round and then that led me to

07:59a title

07:59uh a title shot with Daniel Cormier okay and so um leading up to the then then then after that

08:06I flew to

08:07Boston and me and Daniel Cormier had a had a showdown after his fight with he just beat Anthony Johnson

08:14yeah and everything but so I was next I was next in line to fight Daniel Cormier but that because

08:19he

08:20was a champion because Jon Jones had been suspended no from from competing due to his uh drug the drug

08:27tests and that but then um Jon Jones was coming back so he was automatically put in front of me

08:33to fight

08:34Daniel Cormier so then I had uh they they scheduled me to fight with um Volkan Ozdemir on the same

08:41night

08:42in California so um so if I would have won that fight I would have fought I would have went

08:48against

08:48the winner of Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier unfortunately I lost that fight in the first round

08:53so sad and um so sad yeah so so so so then I was put back and then and then

09:00Volkan Ozdemir was put

09:02forward to fight the winner of of that fight and then um yeah so that that that was the story

09:09so I was

09:10very close I was very close it was you know it is what it is some for the name it

09:14is what it is

09:15yeah right now talking about losses in UFC yeah it's not the biggest thing that you know fighter

09:20had to battle with how did you cope with losses later in the end of the career how did you

09:26manage

09:26losses well this is this is some something that I missed in my in my career because I kind of

09:33just went

09:34off of natural instincts and natural talent yeah and that all through through through my career and

09:41I kind of relied just on my natural abilities and I didn't I didn't have any mental coaches I didn't

09:47have any you know like that yeah I I just went on training training hard getting as fit as I

09:55can

09:55and then and then just just going on the night and that so um you know I kind of just

10:01dealt with it

10:01dealt with all my losses myself and that yeah but that's something that I should have I should have

10:07really because because being one of the top fighters in the world

10:14that separates the winners from the losers having that mental and so that mental advantage for

10:20performing on the night but talking about mental advantage what would you say as it was your the most

10:26to face mental challenge in and outside the cage maybe my losses and and having having another fight

10:34to come back and knowing that I have to win exactly so leading up to the fight I was very

10:40nervous I

10:40didn't talk to any mental mental coaches or anything like that I just dealt with everything myself and

10:50um so like I think I think that and that's something that I want to help fighters with

10:55and that is the mental is the mental aspect of of fighting and that so I think it was it

11:01was dealing

11:02with dealing with my losses and that because they say you have the highest highs on the lowest lows yeah

11:09so when you win there's no there's no other feeling like it but when you lose there's no other feeling

11:14like either so I see so you know in losses is one of the biggest talent for you as a

11:19fighter having

11:20to come back again and knowing when you had a winning fight yeah that's one of the biggest aspects of

11:25of

11:26the game how did that shape your mentality as a fighter my first loss was against Alex Gustafsson

11:32and um I kind of took it hard because I was like I think I was like 13 or 14

11:39fights unbeaten

11:40wow and that all with knockouts and everything so I always expect to win well and um you know it

11:47was

11:47it was tough it was tough losing but then then we started training together after after he beat me

11:52and then it made me a better fighter because I went to a better training camp in in Sweden and

11:59you know

12:00the the the camp was was terrific and I learned a lot from from those guys and everything so it

12:06pushed my

12:06push my career forward talking about makes match your heart what has really changed then and now

12:12between now and now what does it not really change is it the money is it more money is it

12:16more poor

12:17the fighters have become a lot more versatile and so everyone knows how to to do everything now

12:23everyone's a specialist everywhere now and and probably the money's changed as well there's a lot

12:28more money in it now so it's a bigger growing sport and that so I think fighters can make proper

12:34proper

12:34careers out of it yeah no talking about Kamaru and Adesanya how how close are you guys um Adesanya

12:43I was I I used to be a fan of him when he was a kickboxing okay and when he

12:47first moved to mixed

12:48martial arts I invited him over to Sweden to our training camp okay now you think um we've been very

12:53close we had the same we had the same management as well we still got the same management now

12:57and that and um you know he's a very good guy he's very good I like him I like um

13:03Adesanya okay

13:04wonderful Kamaru Kamaru's uh a good friend and that um you know he had a different path in um in

13:13the

13:14UFC became champion he's one of the greatest welterweight fighters in the UFC and um you know he's a good

13:21guy

13:21as you come back to Nigeria a few times and he's got his AKL show here and everything so yeah

13:27yeah

13:28both good guys let's talk about your retirement so what actually led to your retirement do you know

13:33what it was like I was ranked number three in the world I had my first loss against Ozdemir and

13:41then

13:42I was scheduled to fight um who was next after Ozdemir I think it was Jan Blachowicz okay in London

13:52okay

13:52and um I'd already beaten him he's the he's the only fighter I've been to this decision once okay with

13:59and I beat him in Poland where I went to fight him in Poland I beat him uh third round

14:05decision so

14:06after my fight with Ozdemir they put me against Blachowicz again in London okay and he beat me

14:14by points wow so I beat him in points in his hometown in Poland and then he beat me on

14:20points in my hometown

14:22in London so that was a that was a funny no funny story but it was uh interesting and that

14:28and so

14:30after that I fought um Thiago Santos in Brazil no he was I've meant to be in Brazil but

14:35I fought him in Canada in Toronto and um that was a very violent fight it went off from the

14:43first

14:44five seconds the the bell went and that and um I lost that fight again so and then I was

14:51scheduled to fight um what's his name um that was my last fight

14:59your last Rakic in Sweden that was in Sweden as well and then I lost that fight by knockout

15:06so when I've I've had four losses in a row coming from one of the top fighters in the world

15:14and that

15:15I wasn't I wasn't watching my rankings at the time and all that but

15:20it was very hard to take and that and um you know I think a couple of couple of weeks

15:26after

15:26after the loss I just put out a post saying um I'm deciding to retire and rarer so I think

15:32it was

15:32the losses what affected my decision and that and um because I thought I thought I thought that

15:39that fighting these guys I should be beating them I'm better than these guys

15:43and that and um it was it was just my mind was all all over the place at the time

15:49and I just decided

15:50to retire and hang hang my gloves up and that but a couple of months after after that decision

15:58I kind of regretted it yeah I kind of regretted it I wanted to regret I wanted to fight again

16:04so I got back into training and stuff but then covid hit and then all the fights were

16:10were cancelled and everything and everything and then we went through covid and then and then

16:16that's when I moved to America so then after that life life just kind of happened you know

16:24and then like a couple of years went past and um now that that was it basically wow and that

16:32but

16:32now but now I've still got the itch the itch the itch to fight for fun stuff and everything but

16:39I've been training a lot of boxing a lot of boxing over the last over the last few years

16:44and then and I think I want to have a few boxing fights wow before before how soon should we

16:50expect

16:51that soon this year this year wow we'll be looking forward to that yeah now looking at Nigeria I do

16:57think Nigeria has the potential to produce top mixed mixture of heart like you Nigeria as a country in

17:03Nigeria now you think Nigeria has already proved itself that all the warriors come from this this

17:09this this this part of the world naturally without even trying you know and and this is

17:15what this is what I want to kind of give back to the world and give back to Lagos where

17:22I grew up

17:22and there's a lot of young kids just like me who can who can make it in the world and

17:28I want to I want to

17:29I want to give them that opportunity you know and train them and show them proper training and proper

17:34guidance into becoming top athletes that they that they should be in the world well exactly what

17:40I was coming to that that what you want to give back to the nigerian so is that really is

17:44that a

17:44key behind the the gym that you're searching openly yes yes let me know my body I had I had

17:50a

17:50gym called Lion's Pride MMA that I started shortly after I started my career and we had such great

17:58fighters I had to close it I had to close it after about five or five or six years and

18:04that's how I

18:05want to I want to try and I want to reopen that here in Nigeria and then give all the

18:11kids from Lagos

18:12a fighting chance to make it in the world and now I also want to hold hold like regular

18:19MMA shows here here in Lagos I also shouldn't I be expecting that to come into this year this

18:26year this year this year we're currently working on on the gym on the on the gym location well we've

18:31got the gym location now we're just currently start starting work on it and everything and getting it

18:37built wow and that okay I've come here I've come here for a few times and everything but I think

18:43this year

18:45is is the time to start 2026 it's the time to start yes that's always the final what so

18:51Nigerians were watching us on tv the final message to young guys who want to aspire what is your advice

18:56for young guys you want to go into a mix match your heart in future to what's my advice to

19:03them is to is

19:04to believe in themselves that just seeing it on tv they can actually do it themselves because that's

19:12what I did before I even started what before I even started fighting or even training UFC I used

19:18to watch UFC on tv and I used to watch and think you know what that's that's that's my style

19:24that I like

19:25this that I can do this and now well I literally walked into into the gym I started training I

19:32had

19:32my first fight two weeks later wow and then within a year and a half I was UK number one

19:40wow in my weight

19:43in my weight division within four years I'd signed to UFC wow so it's not impossible and you just have

19:51to

19:51get up and and do it and believe in yourself wonderful now thank you for your time all right

19:57guys I'm Jimmy the poster boy Emanuel keep watching guardian tv

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