Manny Gamburyan facts for kids

Manny Gamburyan (Armenian: Մանվել Գամբուրյան) was born on May 8, 1981. He is an Armenian mixed martial artist who also holds American citizenship. Manny competed in the UFC in different weight classes. These included lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight.

He started his professional fighting career in 1999. Manny was also a cast member on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter 5. He also fought in other big organizations like World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and King of the Cage (KOTC).

Early Life and Training

Manny Gamburyan's family moved from Armenia to the United States in May 1991. Soon after arriving, he began training in judo. He trained at the Hayastan MMA Academy, run by Gokor Chivichyan and Gene LeBell.

Manny quickly became one of the best judo athletes in the country. He won junior national championships less than two years later. He 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. When he was 15, Manny also started training in Kyokushin Karate.

Mixed Martial Arts Career

Starting His Career

Manny Gamburyan started his mixed martial arts (MMA) career in 1999. He was 17 years old at the time. 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 name "Pitbull".

On the show, Manny won his first fight against Noah Thomas. He won by using a move called a kimura lock. In his next fight, Manny beat Matt Wiman. This win helped him move on to the semifinal round.

In the semifinal, Manny fought Joe Lauzon. He won by a unanimous decision. This meant he moved on to the finale against Nate Diaz. Many people thought Manny was an underdog in his fights. This was partly because he was shorter than many opponents. After the Lauzon fight, UFC president Dana White even said sorry for doubting Manny. In the finale, Manny was doing well against Diaz. But he had to stop fighting in the second round. He dislocated his right shoulder while trying to take Diaz down. Even though this was a loss due to injury, Manny has never been forced to give up a fight by an opponent's submission move in his MMA career.

Fighting in the UFC

Even though Manny lost the show's finale, he still got a contract with the UFC. He won his next two UFC fights. He beat Nate Mohr using an ankle lock at UFC 79. Then he defeated Jeff Cox with a guillotine choke at UFC Fight Night 13.

At UFC 87, Manny lost to Rob Emerson by knockout in just 12 seconds. At UFC 94, he lost to Thiago Tavares in a close fight. The judges decided Tavares won by unanimous decision.

Moving to WEC

After his loss to Tavares, Manny decided to move to a lighter weight class. He moved to the featherweight division. He then joined the WEC organization.

His first fight at featherweight was against John Franchi at WEC 41. Manny won this fight by decision. Manny then defeated Leonard Garcia at WEC 44 in November 2009. He won that fight by unanimous decision too.

Manny fought former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown at WEC 48. Manny 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. This fight was at WEC 51 in September 2010. Manny lost the fight by knockout in the second round.

Back in the UFC

In October 2010, the WEC organization joined with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Because of this, all WEC fighters, including Manny, moved to the UFC.

Manny was supposed to fight Raphael Assunção at UFC 128 in March 2011. But he had to pull out because of a back injury. He was replaced by another fighter.

Manny's next fight was against Tyson Griffin at UFC on Versus 4 in June 2011. He lost this fight by majority decision. He was scheduled to fight Diego Nunes at UFC 135 in September 2011. But he got another shoulder injury and had to withdraw. The fight eventually happened at UFC 141, where Manny lost by unanimous decision.

Manny got a win against Michihiro Omigawa at UFC on FOX 4 in August 2012. He won by unanimous decision.

He was set to fight Chad Mendes at UFC 157 in February 2013. However, Manny got a thumb injury and couldn't fight. Later, Manny was also scheduled to fight Hacran Dias at UFC on FX 8 in May 2013. But he had to withdraw again due to another injury.

Manny fought Cole Miller at UFC Fight Night 26 in August 2013. Manny won this fight by unanimous decision.

At UFC 168 in December 2013, Manny faced Dennis Siver. Manny lost the fight by unanimous decision. However, Siver later failed a drug test. Because of this, the fight result was changed to a "No Contest." This means it was as if the fight never happened for record-keeping purposes.

Manny then lost to Nik Lentz by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 40 in May 2014.

He moved to the bantamweight division and fought Cody Gibson at UFC 178 in September 2014. Manny won this fight by submission in the second round.

Manny was supposed to fight Aljamain Sterling in April 2015. But he had to pull out due to an injury. His next fight was against Scott Jorgensen at UFC Fight Night 71 in July 2015. Manny won this fight by unanimous decision.

Manny then faced John Dodson at UFC on Fox 19 in April 2016. Manny lost this fight by TKO in the first round. He was also scheduled to fight Alejandro Pérez in September 2016. But he pulled out for personal reasons.

Manny's last fight was against Johnny Eduardo at UFC Fight Night 100 in November 2016. He lost by TKO in the second round. After this fight, Manny announced he was retiring from MMA. However, less than two years later, he mentioned he might return to fighting in mid-2019.

Personal Life

Manny Gamburyan is one of the main coaches for famous fighter 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: He was the runner-up in the lightweight tournament on the reality show.
• World Extreme Cagefighting
  • Knockout of the Night (One time): This award was given for his knockout win against Mike Brown.

See also

In Spanish: Manvel Gamburyan para niños

• List of male mixed martial artists