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Manuwa, UFC London
Jimi Manuwa at UFC Poland. Photo Jorden Curran.

Jimi Manuwa returned from a 13-month layoff at UFC 204 when he defeated Ovince Saint Preux in their Light-Heavyweight bout in Manchester.

Manuwa (16-2) scored his 14th KO/TKO victory of his career with a vicious second round KO of St. Preux (19-9). This came after a lacklustre first round where St. Preux had his way with Manuwa on the ground.

Manuwa landed good leg kicks in front of a raucous British crowd to start the first round but struggled to produce any answers for the unorthodox clinch of St. Preux. Manuwa continued to play into the wrestling and grappling game of St. Preux who had his way with him throughout the round.

Manuwa came out in the second and changed the fight when he hit a beautiful one-two combination which stunned St. Preux inside 30 seconds. With his confidence lifted, he walked down and landed at will as St. Preux faded under the pressure and grew tired after countless body shots.

The finish came, in 2:38 of round two, when a hard left hook to the body followed by a right; which hit St Preux flush on the chin, stumbled him. This left him hanging on against the cage. Manuwa moved in for the kill and got the finish by dropping him with a huge left to the ear leaving St. Preux out cold.

“He kept presenting the wrestling and the takedowns. So I went for it,” said Manuwa after the fight.

“I kept seeing the body shot so I went for it, and I’ve been working on my stand up and boxing, and it all came together tonight. My coaches said if you rock him, don’t rush it. So I took my time and picked my shots.”

The win could see Manuwa, who was ranked #8 on the UFC Light-Heavyweight Rankings prior to this fight, rise further up the ladder of a division currently missing Jon Jones because of his on-going USADA issues and Alexander Gustafsson due to injury.

St. Preux however could now find his place in the UFC under jeopardy. This loss now makes it three defeats in four fights for the American.

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