Jimi Manuwa will return to the Octagon in March for a fight on his home turf at UFC Fight Night 127 in London.
The UFC on Thursday announced that Manuwa would rematch Polish fighter Jan Blachowicz at the March 17 event, the MMA juggernaut’s first trip to London since Manuwa headlined in March of 2017.
Manuwa (17-3) will be hoping for similar results, as he knocked out Corey Anderson at UFC Fight Night 107 at O2 Arena, the same venue where he will rematch Blachowicz.
Manuwa has flirted with a UFC light heavyweight title shot, but has always come up one step short. All three of his losses were in fights that would have catapulted into a title challenge. He first lost to Alexander Gustafsson, then to Anthony Johnson, and most recently to Volkan Oezdemir, who will challenge champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 220 on Jan. 20 in Boston.
Despite Manuwa winning their first match-up, the rematch with Blachowicz (21-7) is appealing to him for a number of reasons. First, Manuwa is coming off of the loss to Oezdemir and wants to get back in the win column. Second, Blachowicz is on a two-fight winning streak, having defeated Devin Clark and Jarred Cannonier. Third, and most importantly, Manuwa doesn’t like the fact that Blachowicz is the only fighter to ever take him to a decision.
“He won’t make it to the last bell. He’s the only fighter I’ve gone to a decision with in my career and I aim to rectify that on March 17. I will knock him out,” Manuwa proclaimed.
“I respect him as he is willing to fight anyone and he’s definitely improved since we last met, but I’ve got significantly better and we will see this in the Octagon. I’ll be patient and strike when he makes mistakes.”
