Jimi Manuwa is going to be competing on the UFC 214 card and his opponent is top ranked light heavyweight Volkan Oezdemir.
A win would get Manuwa a light heavyweight title shot against Daniel Cormier, whom Manuwa feels could be knocked out within two rounds.
“I didn’t see anything that was like, ‘wow,’ or anything,” Manuwa said on The MMA Hour. “He’s just a fat wrestler, that’s it. He can't stand with me, you know what I mean? All he’s got is his wrestling, and all he's going to try and do is take me down if I fight him. That’s it. He’s very good at it, but that’s all he’s got. If we fight, all I would have to work on is takedown defense, and I’ll knock him out within two rounds.”
Cormier is going to be competing on the same UFC 214 card and he is defending the gold against former title holder Jon Jones.
Manuwa is also willing to step in on short notice to fight DC if Jones pulls out of the card.
“If Jones pulls out or DC pulls out, I’m going to main event and save the card,” Manuwa said. “I’m preparing for a fight. I’m preparing stand-up, wrestling, judo, everything; I’m just prepared to fight. It doesn't matter who I'm fighting, whether it’s Daniel Cormier, Jones or Volkan, I’m prepared to fight. I'm doing my runs, I’m doing my cardio, I’m doing my striking, I’m doing my wresting and everything in order to win the fight. If it’s DC, I just have to do a little bit of more wrestling. If it’s Jones, I’ll do some wrestling and a little bit more striking. If it’s Volkan, I have to do a little bit more striking and takedown defense and sharpen up everything. So that’s what were doing, sharpening up everything and getting ready for victory.”
UFC 214 takes place on Saturday, July 29 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California with Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
