JIMI CLOSES IN ON DREAM TITLE SHOT
JIMI MANUWA is just one fight away from landing a shot at the light-heavyweight championship.
The British brawler is on the undercard of the UFC 214 bill in California on Sunday, where current champ Daniel Cormier defends his belt against Jon Jones.
Manuwa tackles Switzerland’s Volkan Oezdemir, 29, and says that he has been promised a tilt at the title by UFC president Dana White. Manuwa, who has won his last two fights, said: “I can’t argue with Jon Jones getting the fight against Cormier. “I believe I’ll knock Volkan out and Dana said I’ll get a title shot after that. I’ve been knocking people out and believe I deserve a shot at it.” The 37-year-old did his championship hopes the power of good by taking out sixth-ranked Corey Anderson at London’s 02 Arena in his last fight in March. That success followed the secondround KO of Ovince Saint Preux in October and he goes into this contest ranked at No.3. However, Manuwa concedes that Oezdemir, who sits at No.5 in the world, will be a tough opponent after an impressive start to his UFC career.
The Swiss star defeated Saint Preux via a unanimous decision on his debut for the organisation back in February before he showed his immense promise again with a first-round KO of Misha Cirkunov in May.
Manuwa added: “He’s beaten top-10 opponents whereas, when I came in, my first two fights were against a top-20 guy and a person in the top 15.
“It was a slower rise for me but he’s gone in to fight two top-10 guys and beaten them so now he meets me.
“I have a very tough fight in Volkan but I’m going to welcome him into the upper echelon of the division and show him what’s what.
“I’m confident that he will not beat me, even if it does seem a risky fight.
“It doesn’t matter who is in front of me – they’re going to get blown away.”