Press – Poster in the News

The Voice caught up with Jimi again in October, this time as the champion. To see what he had to say, and where he’s heading, see the article.

In his first bout as the light-heavyweight champ, Poster successfully defended it in knocking out Luke Blythe during round two.

For Sherdog’s perspective of events, see their write-up.

Go to MMASPOT.net to read, Jimi Manuwa ~ Becoming The Poster Boy…..

Jimi made his Hollywood production debut alongside a star studded cast featuring none other than Collin Farrell. The film’s called London Boulevard and is due out next year. See the ‘Leisure’ section for photos.

Coverage of the night from the Mirror’s MMA blog.

The main event was announced for the vacant light-heavy title; it was time to rumble! Out came old hand Ryan Robinson and crew, walling up to the cage Gracie style. Ryan went through the compulsory motions before making his way into the cage. When his ring tune faded out, the stage was set for Poster.

A few moments silence fell before Poster’s bespoke ring tune belled in. Once the “Lions Eat First” cue sounded, the Team Spartan, Keddles, and Nova Forca entourage made their way to the cage.

After both fighters had been introduced, Poster had a few words with his corner, then met Ryan in the middle; gloves were touched, it was on! Ryan felt his way in with a clean Thai kick that went unchecked to Poster’s thigh. Poster stepped back before unleashing a stream of jabs and huge hay-makers, one of which made a ‘thwack’ that was probably heard half way down the A13. Knocked down, Ryan courageously got to his feet, though no doubt dazed.

Poster pursued with more strikes, which appeared to force Ryan to shoot in. Somehow, but not entirely clear, Poster ended up in Ryan’s half guard, which he passed to gain side control. A similar scenario played out again, but this time Poster decided to stand rather than securing side control. When Ryan got up, the referee inspected him, then drew a close to fight. Jimi had taken the title.

The East London Advertiser talks to Jimi about the May 9th title fight. See what the headline act has to say!

March 3rd saw London’s The Voice publish a piece on Jimi’s MMA activities. To learn more about where he’s from, and where he’s going, check it out.

In one of the more anticipated bouts of the evening, Poster Boy took his unblemished record up to 4-0 with a round-1 submission victory over a very game 1-1 Jamie Hearn. Injecting a bit of a showmanship into the event, Windsor based Hearn made his way to the cage dressed as gladiator, while Jimi strolled up with Team 187, Dino from Team Spartan, and Nova Forca’s Ricardo Da Silva. After the customary ring announcements, both fighters politely touched gloves and got down to business.

The opening seconds saw no contact as Jimi and Jamie skipped around feeling out the cage and sizing each other up. Getting into their stride, Jimi was the first to land with a well timed roundhouse kick to Jamie’s calf/ankle region. Continuing to circulate the cage, Jimi flicked out another low unchecked roundhouse as Hearn stepped forward with a jab. Not fully knowing if it was the result of the kick or whether he had in fact rolled his ankle, Jamie gesticulated to the ref that he had a problem.

After taking less than a minute out, the fight resumed with Hearn launching himself at Jimi in a combo of tidily executed punches, the sort only seen from a professional boxer; without doubt, Hearn’s hands were among the quickest of the evening. On the back foot, Jimi covered up and absorbed the tirade before realising, ‘Hearn meant business’. Whilst Jamie worked another combo, Jimi shot in for a huge double leg, firing Hearn across the length of the cage in the process.

After some to-ing and fro-ing and, Jamie delivered a very hard kick of his own, and again, made it clear to the ref that he had a problem with his ankle. Following some words of warning from the ref, the fight continued, but this time Jimi wasted no time in finishing it. A couple of punches later, Hearn dropped to one knee while Jimi seized the moment and grabbed a guillotine. Not realising Hearn had tapped, the ‘187′ continued as Jimi jumped into guard, guillotine suck for the finish while the ref quickly intervened.

Congratulations to Jimi’s team mates, Ben Smith and John Joe Ellis. Ben won by a well executed arm-bar in round one, while John scored the quickest TKO of the night. All in all, a great night for Team 187!