Tag Archives: Jimi Manuwa

UFC Fight Night 127 Odds and Prediction: Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Blachowicz

Sports News & Picks, , , , ,

Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz run back their 2015 bout at UFC Fight Night 127 on March 17th, 2018 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Manuwa beat Blachowicz via unanimous decision when they first met at UFC Fight Night 64 in Blachowicz’s home country of Poland. This time around, the pair will square off one more time and it will be Jimi Manuwa’s turn to host Blachowicz in his native United Kingdom.

Manuwa is 17-3 but has split his last six bouts. He is coming off of a July defeat to Volkan Oezdemir and he is hoping to avoid back to back losses for the first time in his MMA career.

Likewise, Blachowicz has won just half of his last eight bouts. Unlike Manuwa, though, he is coming off a December victory over Jared Cannonier.

A Stand Up Battle

Manuwa is the favorite here at -200 while Blachowicz came back as a solid +160 underdog at Bovada. Poster Boy is fighting at home and when he does, his record is an almost perfect 16-1. His only loss in England came against Alexander Gustafsson and that was way back in 2014. But it’s not only because of home court advantage that Manuwa is favored in this bout.

In their first bout, Manuwa won the fight by outlanding Blachowicz 81-58 in total strikes landed. There were no takedowns during that fight and in a stand up battle, Manuwa vs Blachowicz is a no-contest in favor of Jimi Manuwa.

15 of Manuwa’s 20 fights have ended in a knockout so his fighting style is no secret.  Manuwa is a striker who has one punch knockout power. As to his ground game, well he only has three takedowns in his UFC career. So for as long as he can keep this fight on his feet, beating Jan Blachowicz again is no problem.

Same Fight, Same Result

Blachowicz is the more balanced fighter between the two but he can’t keep up with Manuwa in the striking game. Manuwa simply has much powerful hands. For Blachowicz to win this fight, he must take Manuwa to the mat and wear him down. If he is able to do that, things can get very interesting.

But since their 2015 bout, nothing much has changed. So if Manuwa was able to avoid getting taken down three years ago, he can do so again in this rematch. And if the fight is relegated to a striking battle, it’s Manuwa who’s going to stand out.

This will be the same fight as before and the result is going to the same too. We’re picking Jimi Manuwa to win this bout by stoppage.

UFC Fight Night 107: Jimi Manuwa vs. Corey Anderson Odds and Prediction

Sports News & Picks, , , , , , , ,

Two of the light heavyweight division’s up and coming contenders square off in the main event of UFC Fight Night 107 at the O2 Arena in London on March 18th, 2017.

Fifth ranked Jimi Manuwa will face 7th ranked Corey Anderson in a fight that was promoted to top billing after the UFC reportedly had a difficulty in booking a main event for their London return. Needless to say, it’s set up as a big fight and the crowd at O2 Arena should be loud and ready for a good one:

This will be Manuwa’s second time to headline an event at the O2 Arena. Previously, he was knocked out by Alexander Gustafsson at UFC Fight Night 37.

Knocking On Championship Door

Manuwa is coming off an impressive 2nd round knockout win over former title challenger Ovince St. Preux at UFC 204 in Manchester. The English fighter has a 16-2 record and has 14 KOs to his credit. He’s been knocking on the championship door several times before but knockout losses to Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson have derailed Poster Boy in the past two years. With another opportunity to headline an event, Manuwa looks to improve his ranking and get closer to that chance to finally fight for a world title.

Fellow Up And Comer

After winning the Ultimate Fighter 19 season, Corey Anderson has compiled a 5-2 record in the UFC. The 7th ranked light heavyweight is also coming off a TKO victory over Sean O’Connell at UFC Fight Night 102 last December. Like Manuwa, he’s one of the up and comers in a stacked 205-pound division. But like Manuwa, he come up short in the biggest bout of his career. Overtime suffered a close split decision win against Mauricio Shogun Rua at UFC 198 in May 2016. But given a chance to make a name for himself, Anderson sets his sights on beating another highly ranked fighter in Manuwa. A victory over Manuwa puts Anderson on the title map but it won’t be easy.

Experience is The Key

The odds are calling this one for the Brit with Manuwa currently a -145 favorite against Anderson’s +115. But while the lines may be close, Manuwa has significant advantage in terms of experience and quality of opposition faced. Like Manuwa, Corey Anderson is an accurate striker with high volume of punches thrown. But we saw what happened to Ovince St. Preux when he faced Manuwa at UFC 204. Corey Anderson does have the puncher’s chance of beating Manuwa but it’s unlikely the hometown boy will disappoint. We’re picking Jimi Manuwa to win this fight via knockout.