He's the Poster Boy who made a sensational comeback to the MMA scene! Discover the incredible journey of Jimi Manuwa, from his accidental start in mixed martial arts to becoming a feared knockout artist.
What drives a fighter to the top? Jimi shares how a weightlifting injury unexpectedly opened the door to his true calling in MMA. Learn about his rapid ascent from a novice to a professional fighter in just two weeks, fueled by sheer determination.
Born in the USA and raised in Lagos, Manuwa credits his active and adventurous childhood for forging a fearless mentality. This robust foundation propelled him into a career where excitement and sheer knockout power became his signature.
With 17 wins, 15 by knockout, it's no wonder he earned the nickname "Knockout King." While a brief stint in the UFC presented new challenges against elite competition, Jimi reflects on the crucial role of mental training in separating champions from contenders.
#JimiManuwa #MMALegend #KnockoutKing #PosterBoy
What drives a fighter to the top? Jimi shares how a weightlifting injury unexpectedly opened the door to his true calling in MMA. Learn about his rapid ascent from a novice to a professional fighter in just two weeks, fueled by sheer determination.
Born in the USA and raised in Lagos, Manuwa credits his active and adventurous childhood for forging a fearless mentality. This robust foundation propelled him into a career where excitement and sheer knockout power became his signature.
With 17 wins, 15 by knockout, it's no wonder he earned the nickname "Knockout King." While a brief stint in the UFC presented new challenges against elite competition, Jimi reflects on the crucial role of mental training in separating champions from contenders.
#JimiManuwa #MMALegend #KnockoutKing #PosterBoy
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NewsTranscript
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 that my friend started to start to fight a few years before I started and so we used to
00:42go and
00:42watch him fight but everyone kind of knew that I was a natural fighter right there so I used to
00:49go and
00:49watch you used to go and watch him and then like everyone was saying when are you gonna start this
00:55this is this is your your style when are you gonna start and everything well at the time I was
01:00into
01:01weightlifting and and those kind of things okay and that so unfortunately I had an injury weightlifting
01:11and now I tore my my pec muscle when I was doing my maximum lift okay and so during that
01:18recovery my mom
01:20I asked my friends I said let me come and try this mixed martial arts and everything so I went
01:25on a
01:26Monday I liked it we did kickboxing and stuff I like the physical aspect of it and that and then
01:32I went on a
01:33Tuesday and I we did jiu-jitsu and wrestling you know and I also like that as well soccer so
01:38I went
01:40foot to on the Wednesday on the Thursday and then on the Friday I said I said to my friend
01:45now get me a
01:46fight I like this get me a fight well so he came back on the weekend and said okay I
01:50got your fight
01:51it's in two weeks so I didn't really have any much training and that so well where I knew I
01:57had a
01:57fight coming up I trained every day for the for the next two weeks until my fight and then where
02:04everyone was excited for my fight I went to my debut it was a professional fight it wasn't even an
02:10amateur one is a bit like my first professional fight so I went with about 20 cars full of all
02:20my
02:20friends everyone yeah just to cheer me on because they knew that it was my kind of style it's just
02:26done that so I won that fight it was a great experience I was very very tired after the first
02:34round and that and I beat I beat I beat him in the first round and I just remember recovering
02:41after
02:42the fight like all my adrenaline came down and everything I was like for about an hour I was
02:48out of breath for about an hour and then yeah I liked it so much and I just carry I
02:53just carried on
02:54wonderful now you were born in the United States of America yeah then raised in Lagos yeah I would
03:00say how much of those things impacted your career so far you were raised you know coming going to
03:05MMA yeah I think growing up in Lagos I was very I was very active I've got nothing but good
03:14memories
03:15from from growing up in Lagos going to school in a papaya and living in Sulere and I've got nothing
03:23but
03:24good memories I was a very active child and everything so I think that impacted I was very
03:29adventurous and everything my auntie my mom my dad can tell you a lot of stories from no riding my
03:36bike and getting into mischief and I think that active and that adventurous streak in my nature led
03:45to me having a solid fearless background you know for Philip fearless mentality mmm and yeah on the ship
03:56watch you go into in the future yes I see you and you were known as a knockout king how
04:02did you come
04:02about that nickname my name there was a poster boy and then that came from that came from I think
04:11my
04:11first fight when they gave me the posters to go and promote my fire and they're supposed to boy yeah
04:16moving on from that I wanted to be the poster boy of mixed martial arts where I came from yeah
04:24and
04:24that you know and all the knockouts translated into that name as well you know because everyone knew
04:32that everyone knew that when they come to see me fight that is nothing but excitement and and what's the
04:41word if you can use and under and just not just pure knockout because I've got 17 wins 15 of
04:48those are
04:49knockouts Wow and that's massive and TKO's and I've only got I only went to the decision twice and I
04:56was
04:56the same person that the future champion of the UFC so okay you see you were on the future at
05:03certain times
05:04you know when you started yeah yeah but when you started meeting top opposition from the top tier
05:09competitors things a little bit change what really happened what are things you're not doing right
05:13then no because I think I think when you cut when you get to the UFC and that all the
05:23fighters so
05:23everyone knows how to do everything so so it's just the little details that separate the winner from
05:30the loser loser and then I think I think a lot of the time is the mental aspect of or
05:35of training
05:36and that's something that I never I never I never took on was a mental aspect the the the the
05:45psychological training the mental training and stuff like that you know so I think that's what separates
05:52the top tier fighters it's just like the mental aspect of it because everyone knows how to do everything
05:56you know yeah well one of the biggest fight that you had there was Anthony Johnson what are things
06:03that you can remember about this fight now if you remember video memory if you grew up to be 100
06:07years
06:08old I think that was at the MGM in Las Vegas I think that was my first fight in Vegas
06:20and it was very daunting
06:26being being uh being shipped from from London to Vegas to gold like on the main stage and everything
06:36and um you know we were both knockout specialists he was a knockout specialist I was a knockout specialist
06:45at the time and um you know I think it was just nerves I think it was just probably the
06:52first one to connect
06:53is that was gonna win the fight you know we're both what one punch knockout specialist and now so he's
06:59the first one to to to connect you know yeah but we're great friends before and after the fight
07:05Anthony Johnson was a was a was a great athlete and I respect him very much and he respects me
07:11very much
07:12and and everything we got we could become good friends after after the fight after the fight yeah
07:17okay did you when did you ever feel so close to your title shot the UFC and what actually had
07:22you back
07:23when did you ever feel so close I was I was I was ranked number three in the world and
07:29um
07:31my fight with
07:36Corey Anderson in um in in in in the O2 arena in London was um probably one of my best
07:45one of my
07:46favorite knockouts it was it was in the O2 arena I was the main event in my in my then
07:53hometown of of
07:54London and uh knocked him out in the first round and then that led me to a title uh a
08:00title shot with
08:01Daniel Cormier okay and so um leading up to the uh then then then then after that I flew to
08:07Boston
08:07and 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 light to fight Daniel Cormier
08:18that's true but because he was a champion because Jon Jones had been suspended
08:23no from from competing due to his uh drug uh drug tests and that but then um Jon Jones was
08:30coming
08:30back so he was automatically put in front of me to fight Daniel Cormier so then I had uh
08:37they they scheduled me to fight with um Volkan Ozdemir on the same night in California
08:44so um so if I would have won that fight I would have fought I would have went against the
08:48winner of
08:49Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier unfortunately I lost that fight in the first round so sad and um so sad
08:56yeah so so so so then I was put back and then and then Volkan Ozdemir Volkan Ozdemir was put
09:02forward
09:03to fight the winner of of that fight and then um yeah so that that that was the story so
09:09I was very
09:10close I was very close you know it is what it is song for the name it is what it
09:15is yeah right now
09:16talking about losses in UFC yeah it's one of 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 losses
09:26well this is this is some something that I missed in my in my career because I kind of just
09:34went off of
09:34natural instincts and natural talent yeah and that all through through through my career and I kind of
09:42relied just on my natural abilities and I didn't I didn't have any mental coaches I didn't have any
09:48you know like that yeah I I just went on training training hard getting as fit as I can and
09:55then
09:56and then just just going on the night and that so um you know I kind of just dealt with
10:01it dealt with
10:02all my losses myself and that yeah but that's something that I should have I should have really
10:08because 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
10:26most toughest mental challenge in and outside your cage maybe my losses and and having having another
10:33fight to come back and knowing that I have to win exactly so leading up to the fight I was
10:39very nervous
10:40I didn't talk to any mental mental coaches or anything like that I just dealt with dealt with everything
10:45myself and um 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
11:08so when you win there's no there's no other feeling like it but when you lose there's no other feeling
11:14like it either so I see so you know in losses is one of the biggest challenge for years to
11:19fight
11:20I have to come back again and knowing when you had a winning fight yeah that's one of the biggest
11:24aspects of of the game how did that shape your mentality as a fighter my first loss was against
11:31Alex Gustafsson and um I kind of took it hard because I was like I think I was like 13
11:38or 14 fights
11:39unbeaten well and that all with knockouts and everything so I always expect to win well and um you
11:46know it was it was tough it was tough losing but then then we started training together after after
11:51he beat me and then it made me a better fighter because I went to a better training camp in
11:57in Sweden
11:59and you know the the the camp was was terrific and I learned a lot from from those guys and
12:05everything
12:05so it pushed my push my career forward talking about makes match your heart what has really changed
12:11then and now between now and now what does it not really change is it the money is it more
12:15money
12:15is it more poor flies have become a lot more versatile and so everyone knows how to to do
12:22everything now everyone's a specialist everywhere now and and probably the money's changed as well
12:28there's a lot more money in it now it's a it's a bigger growing sport and that so I think
12:33fighters
12:33can make proper proper careers out of it yeah I know talking about Kamaru and Adesanya how how close are
12:40you guys
12:41um um I used to be a fan of him when he was a kickboxing okay and when he first
12:47moved to mixed martial arts
12:49I invited him over to Sweden to our training camp okay now you think um we've been very close we
12:54had the
12:54same we had the same management as well we still got the same management now and that and um you
13:00know
13:00he's a very good guy he's very good I like him I like um Adesanya okay wonderful Kamaru is uh
13:06a good friend
13:08and that um you know he had a different path in um in the ufc became champion he's one of
13:15the greatest
13:16welterweight fighters in the ufc and um you know he's a good guy as you've come back to nigeria a
13:23few
13:23times and then he's got his akl show here and everything so yeah yeah both good guys let's
13:29talk about your retirement so what actually led to your retirement do you know what it was like
13:36i was ranked number three in the world i had my first loss against ozdemir and then i was scheduled
13:43to
13:44fight um it was next after ozdemir i think it was jan blackovic okay in london okay and
13:54i'd already beaten him he's the only fighter i've been to this decision once okay with and i beat him
14:01in poland where i went to fight him in poland i beat him a third round decision so after my
14:07fight with
14:08ozdemir they put me against blackovic again in london okay and he beat me by points wow so i beat
14:17him in
14:17points in his hometown in poland and then he beat me on points in my hometown in london
14:22so that was a that was a funny not a funny story but it was uh interesting and that and
14:29so after
14:30that i fought um tiago santos in brazil no he was i've meant to be in brazil but i i
14:36fought him in
14:36canada in toronto and um that was a fight very violent fight it went off from the first five
14:44seconds the bell went and that and um i lost that fight again so and then i was scheduled to
14:52fight um
14:52um what's his name um that was my last fire your last rackage in sweden that was in sweden
15:02as well and then i lost that fight by knockout so when i've i've had four losses in a row
15:12coming from one of the top fighters in the world and that i wasn't i wasn't watching my rankings at
15:17the time and all that but it was very hard to take and that and um you know i think
15:25a couple of couple
15:26of weeks after after the loss i just put out a post saying um i'm deciding to retire and rare
15:32so i think it was the losses what affected my decision and that and um because i thought i thought
15:38i thought that that fighting these guys i should be beating them i'm better than these guys and that
15:44and um it was it was just my mind was all all over the place at the time and i
15:49just decided to retire
15:50and hang hang my gloves up and that but a couple of months after after that decision i kind of
15:58regretted it
15:59yeah i kind of regretted it i wanted to regret i wanted to fight again so i got back into
16:05training
16:05and stuff but then covid hit and then all the fights were concerned were cancelled and everything
16:13and everything and then we went through covid and then and then that's when i moved to america
16:19so then after that life life just kind of happened you know and then like a couple of years went
16:26past
16:27and um now that that that was it basically wow and that but now but now but now i've still
16:34got the
16:34itch it is the itch to fight for fun stuff and everything but i've been training a lot of boxing
16:41a lot of boxing over the last over the last few years and then i think i want to have
16:46a few boxing fights
16:48wow before before how soon should we expect that soon this year this year wow we'll be looking forward
16:55to that yeah now looking at nigeria i do think nigeria has the potential to produce top mixed
17:00mixture like you nigeria has a country in nigeria now you think nigeria has already proved itself that
17:06all the warriors come from this this this this part of the world naturally without even trying you know and
17:15and this is what this is what i want to kind of give back to the world and give back
17:20to lagos where
17:22i grew up because there's a lot of young kids just like me who can who can make it in
17:28the world and
17:28i want to i want to i want to give them that opportunity you know and train them and show
17:33them
17:33proper training and proper guidance into becoming top athletes that they that they should be in the world
17:39well i was coming to that what you want to give back to nigerians is that really is that a
17:44key
17:44behind the the gym that you're searching openly yes yes let me know my body i had i had um
17:50a gym
17:51called 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 i want to
18:05i want to try and i want to reopen that here in nigeria and then give all the kids from
18:12lagos
18:12a fighting chance to make it in the world and now i also want to hold hold like regular mma
18:20shows here
18:21here in lagos i also should again be expecting that to come into this year this year this year
18:26you know i'm currently working on on the gym on on the gym locate well we've got the gym location
18:32now
18:33we just currently start starting work on it and everything and getting it built wow and that okay
18:38i've come here i've come here for a few times and everything but i think this year
18:45is is the time to start 2026. it's the time to start yeah so what's the final what so nigerians
18:52were watching us on tv the final message to young guys who want to aspire what is your advice for
18:56young guys you want to go into a mix match your heart in future to what's my advice to them
19:03is to
19:04is to is to believe in themselves that just seeing it on tv they can actually do it themselves because
19:12that's what i did before i even started what before i even started fighting or even training
19:17ufc i used to watch ufc on tv and i used to watch and think you know what that's that's
19:23that's my style
19:24that i like this that i can do this and now well i literally walked into into the gym i
19:31started
19:31training i had my first fight two weeks later wow and then within a year and a half i was
19:38uk number one
19:40wow in my weight in my weight division within four years i'd signed to ufc wow so it's not impossible
19:50and you just have to get up and and do it and believe in yourself wonderful now thank you for
19:56your time all right guys i'm jimmy the poster boy manua keep watching guardian tv
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