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#5 Jimi Manuwa
Detractors would argue that Manuwa has only made it to the top five of his division in the UFC due to the current thin status of Light-Heavyweight, but hey, he’s made it there and plenty of others haven’t. A former burglar in his youth, Manuwa used MMA to put his life on the right track, and he clearly made the right decision as he’s a fantastic fighter these days despite pushing 40-years-old now.
Debuting in the UFC back in 2012 at their lone Nottingham show, Manuwa destroyed Kyle Kingsbury with a Muay Thai assault that left Kingsbury looking like he’d been hit by a baseball bat. The fight was called in favour of Manuwa after the doctor judged Kingsbury couldn’t see due to swelling caused by a likely broken orbital bone. It was the beginning of a three-fight run for Manuwa that saw all three fights end in doctor stoppages, an odd statistic for sure.
Although his attempts at securing a shot at the Light-Heavyweight title have been curtailed by knockout losses to Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Johnson and Volkan Oezdemir, Manuwa remains a staple of the UFC’s top five at 205lbs and his super-impressive wins over Corey Anderson and Ovince St. Preux remain two of the best victories by any British fighter in the UFC. ‘Poster Boy’ could yet find himself in line for a title shot in the near future.
