Manuwa (photo) is coming off a defeat to Gustafsson, the first of his career. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
In the last decade, Mauritius Shogun He was one of the biggest names in the extinct Japanese event PRIDE and collected fans around the planet. Despite being almost two years older than the Brazilian, Nigerian-British Jimi Manuwa only debuted in MMA in 2008 and was, for a long time, one of those admirers. Now, about to face Shogun at UFC Uberlândia, on November 8th, Manuwa says he is honored to be able to share the octagon with his former idol.
“He was my favorite fighter at one time. Before I even trained for the first time, I was watching him fight and he was my favorite fighter. Now, it's an honor to fight with him”, said Manuwa, in an interview with the “MMA Junkie” website, guaranteeing, however, that admiration will not take place when the octagon door closes. “We are here to fight. He's here to hit me and I'm here to hit him. I think Shogun is a great fighter. He's always dangerous, even when he's getting beat up. After beating him, I will only have great fights ahead of me,” he added.
At 34 years old, Jimi Manuwa has a professional record of 14 wins and one loss – suffered in his last fight, against Alexander Gustafson. Already Mauritius Shogun, 32 years old, has a professional record of 22 wins and nine losses. Shogun also comes from behind, to Dan Henderson, last March. The duo is in the main fight of UFC Fight Night 56, which takes place on November 8th, at Ginásio do Sabiazinho, in Uberlândia (MG).
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