Jimi Manuwa is among the most dangerous strikers in the light-heavyweight division and he put fellow 205-pounder Corey Anderson away early in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event in London, England Saturday.
Manuwa knocked Anderson out with a leaping left hook at 3:05 of the first round, improving to 17-2 as a mixed martial artist. The 37-year-old proceeded to ask to fight the winner of Daniel Cormier versus Anthony Johnson who meet for the title at UFC 210 next month. Manuawa also challenged British boxing star David Haye and considering what’s going on with Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather it’s not an outlandish callout.
[relatedlinks]
Also on the card, Gunnar Nelson put on a show in the co-main event against Alan Jouban. The Icelandic welterweight contender rocked Jouban with a straight right hand early in the second stanza then followed up with a kick and quickly locked up a guillotine choke to force a tap. Nelson improved to 7-2 in the UFC with six of those wins coming by submission.
Marlon Vera spoiled Brad Pickett’s retirement bout by knocking out the veteran bantamweight with a head kick in the third round. Pickett finishes his career with a 25-14 record and although he goes out losing six of his last seven fights the Englishman was a respected fan favourite. The 38-year-old is one of two men to defeat current flyweight and pound-for-pound kingpin Demetrious Johnson.
England’s Arnold Allen and Ireland’s Joe Duffy both train out of Tristar Gym in Montreal and both were victorious. Allen beat Makwan Amirkhani by split decision to earn his fifth consecutive win, while Duffy outclassed Reza Madadi en route to a clean sweep of the scorecards.
Marc Diakiese stole the show on the preliminary card with a thrilling 30-second knockout of Finland’s Teemu Packalén.
Here are the official results from UFC London:
MAIN CARD
— Jimi Manuwa def. Corey Anderson by KO
— Gunnar Nelson def. Alan Jouban by submission
— Marlon Vera def. Brad Pickett by TKO
— Arnold Allen def. Makwan Amirkhani by split decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Joe Duffy def. Reza Madadi by unanimous decision
— Francimar Barroso def. Darren Stewart by unanimous decision
— Timothy Johnson def. Daniel Omielańczuk by split decision
— Leon Edwards def. Vicente Luque by unanimous decision
— Marc Diakiese def. Teemu Packalén by KO
— Brad Scott def. Scott Askham by split decision
— Lina Länsberg def. Lucie Pudilová by unanimous decision
