Hard hitting light heavyweight Jimi Manuwa (16-2) is going back to the place he calls home when he battles Corey Anderson (9-2) at a UFC Fight Night event in London on March 18. FloCombat brought word of the scheduled bout. Manuwa may have been born in the United States and once moved to Nigeria, but his life took a fortunate turn in the right direction when he moved to England.
He’ll look to give his true hometown fans in London something to cheer for. It won’t be easy as he’ll be sharing the Octagon with “Overtime.” Anderson won The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season 19 with a TKO win over Matt Van Buren back in July 2014. Anderson suffered a controversial split decision loss to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 198. He made a statement in his next fight against Sean O’Connell in a dominating TKO win.
Manuwa is also coming off a win in devastating fashion. The “Poster Boy” flattened former interim title contender Ovince Saint Preux in the second round of their contest at UFC 204. The win earned Manuwa a “Performance of the Night” bonus.
A win for Anderson would have major rankings implications for him. The fighter out of Rockford, Illinois currently sits at No. 9 on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) 205-pound rankings. For the No. 5 ranked Manuwa, a win will most likely keep his spot intact. He’ll probably move to the No. 4 spot if Ryan Bader decides to sign with Bellator.
In his 16 professional career wins, Manuwa has knocked out 14 of his opponents and submitted one. He has only gone the distance one time. Anderson has knocked out four of his opponents, with the rest of his wins going to a decision.
The UFC Fight Night event will be held at the O2 Arena. A headliner for the event has not been revealed.
