Jimi Manuwa has been knocking people out for years, but tonight the larger world may finally learn his name after his massive knockout of Ovince St Preux at UFC 204. The event is being held in Manuwa’s home country of England, but he was coming into the fight against St. Preux the underdog due to his lack of wrestling.
But while St. Preux still edged things out in the first round, Manuwa took over in the second with his heavy hands, working on the body and getting St. Preux to drop his hands before headhunting and hurting him against the cage. The end of the fight came at 2:18 of round two when Manuwa laid out St. Preux with a violent volley of strikes.
It was Manuwa’s 16th victory, 14th via knockout, and 5th UFC win. At this point his only career losses come to top light heavyweight contenders Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson. The fight against Ovince St. Preux was an important test — not only was St. Preux another fast rising prospect at 205 pounds, his strength is in wrestling, one of Jimi’s biggest perceived weaknesses. But now that he’s shown he can stay upright against a fighter like Ovince, we can safely say Manuwa has officially arrived as a contender to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxDzh1S1twk
