Manny Gamburyan facts for kids

Manny Gamburyan (Manvel Gamburyan; born May 8, 1981) is a retired mixed martial artist from Armenia. He was a professional fighter from 1999 to 2017. Manny competed in big organizations like the UFC, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), and King of the Cage (KOTC). He was also a cast member on a TV show called The Ultimate Fighter 5.

Early Life and Training

In May 1991, Manny's family moved from Armenia to the United States. Soon after arriving, he started training in judo at the Hayastan MMA Academy. He quickly became one of the best judo athletes in the country. Less than two years later, he won junior nationals.

Manny went on to win junior nationals eight times. He also won the junior Olympics once. In 2000, he was part of the Junior World Team for judo. When he was 15, Manny also began training in Kyokushin Karate.

Mixed Martial Arts Career

Starting His Fighting Journey

Manny Gamburyan began his career in mixed martial arts (MMA) in 1999 when he was 17 years old. He won his first four fights. In 2001, he lost a fight to Sean Sherk, who later became a UFC Lightweight Champion. Manny's cousin, Karo Parisyan, gave him the nickname "The Pitbull" because of how tough he was in his fights.

The Ultimate Fighter Show

In 2007, Manny appeared on the reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter 5. He was on Jens Pulver's team. For his UFC career, his nickname was changed to "Anvil." This was because other UFC fighters, like Andrei Arlovski, already used the "Pitbull" nickname.

On the show, Manny won his first fight against Noah Thomas using a move called a kimura lock. In his next fight, he beat Matt Wiman to move on to the semifinals.

In the semifinal round, Manny defeated Joe Lauzon by a unanimous decision. This win sent him to the finale to fight Nate Diaz. Many people thought Manny would lose his fights because he was shorter than his opponents. After the fight with Lauzon, UFC president Dana White even apologized to Manny for doubting him. In the finale, Manny was doing well against Diaz. However, he had to stop fighting in the second round because he dislocated his right shoulder during a takedown attempt. Even though this counts as a "submission due to injury," Manny has never been forced to give up by an opponent in his MMA career.

Fighting in the UFC

Even though Manny lost the finale of The Ultimate Fighter, his strong performance earned him a contract with the UFC. He won his next two UFC fights. He defeated Nate Mohr with an ankle lock at UFC 79 and Jeff Cox with a guillotine choke at UFC Fight Night 13. In the fight against Cox, Manny caused some controversy. He threw a spinning leg kick after pretending to tap gloves, which is a common friendly gesture at the start of a match. The crowd booed him for this.

Manny returned to action at UFC 87 but was knocked out in just 12 seconds by Rob Emerson. At UFC 94, he lost to Thiago Tavares in a close fight that went to a decision.

Moving to World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC)

After his loss to Tavares, Manny decided to move to a lighter weight class called featherweight. He then joined the WEC, which was another fighting organization owned by the same company as the UFC.

Manny's first fight at featherweight was a win against John Franchi at WEC 41. He then defeated Leonard Garcia at WEC 44 by unanimous decision.

Manny fought former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown at WEC 48. He won this fight by knockout in the first round. He also earned a "Knockout of the Night" bonus of $65,000 for his impressive win. Manny then fought José Aldo for the WEC Featherweight Championship at WEC 51. He lost this fight by knockout in the second round.

Back to the UFC

On October 28, 2010, the WEC joined with the UFC. This meant all WEC fighters, including Manny, moved to the UFC.

Manny was supposed to fight Raphael Assunção at UFC 128, but he had to pull out because of a back injury. He later faced Tyson Griffin at UFC on Versus 4 and lost by a majority decision.

Manny was scheduled to fight Diego Nunes twice, but injuries forced him to withdraw. The fight finally happened at UFC 141, where Manny lost by unanimous decision.

On August 4, 2012, Manny defeated Michihiro Omigawa by unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 4. He was set to fight Chad Mendes and Hacran Dias in 2013, but injuries again forced him out of both fights.

Manny faced Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 26 on August 17, 2013, and won the fight by unanimous decision. He then fought Dennis Siver at UFC 168. Manny lost this fight by unanimous decision. However, Siver later failed a drug test, so the result was changed to a "No Contest," meaning it was as if the fight never happened.

Manny lost to Nik Lentz by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 40. He then moved to an even lighter weight class, bantamweight. In his bantamweight debut, he faced Cody Gibson at UFC 178 and won by submission in the second round.

Manny was supposed to fight Aljamain Sterling in 2015 but had to withdraw due to another injury. He then fought Scott Jorgensen at UFC Fight Night 71 and won by unanimous decision.

Manny's next fight was against John Dodson at UFC on Fox 19 on April 16, 2016. Manny lost this fight by TKO in the first round. He was scheduled to fight Alejandro Pérez in September 2016 but pulled out for personal reasons.

Manny's last fight was against Johnny Eduardo at UFC Fight Night 100 on November 19, 2016. He lost by TKO in the second round. After this fight, Manny announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.

Less than two years after retiring, Manny mentioned in an interview that he was thinking about returning to fighting in mid-2019.

Personal Life

Manny Gamburyan is one of the main coaches for famous judo and MMA athlete Ronda Rousey. They met while training judo at the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood, California.

Achievements and Awards

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • The Ultimate Fighter 5 Lightweight Runner-Up: This means he made it to the final fight of the TV show's tournament.
• World Extreme Cagefighting
  • Knockout of the Night: He won this bonus once for his knockout victory against Mike Brown.

See also

In Spanish: Manvel Gamburyan para niños

• List of male mixed martial artists