Jimi Manuwa on Jon Jones: I think I could knock him out

This weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to London, England, British striking specialist Jimi Manuwa will take on dangerous grappler Corey Anderson. If Manuwa wins this battle in The Big Smoke, it’s conceivable that he’ll earn himself a shot at the winner of Daniel Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s UFC 210 light heavyweight title fight.

While this is the biggest fight currently available at light heavyweight, Manuwa recently told SkySports that he’s especially interested  in a fight with Jon Jones, a former UFC light heavyweight champion who never really lost the title, but was instead stripped of the distinction after a litany of troubles outside the cage.

“Of course, I’d love to fight him,” Manuwa said of a bout with Jones. “He’s the greatest fighter of all time. Why not? I think I could knock him out. He’s fought [Glover] Teixeira, who is one-dimensional and doesn’t have the variety of striking that I’ve got.”

“Jones has never fought a knockout specialist. I’d like to see him fight either me or ‘Rumble’, and see how he puts up with getting hit on the chin.”

Whether his title shot comes against Cormier, Rumble, or Jones, however, Manuwa assured that there will absolutely be a title shot in his future after his battle with Anderson this weekend.

“Listen, I’m ranked No 4,” the 37-year-old said. “One more good performance and I’m going for the title. The top three have had their chance, so I want to go straight for the title. Everyone will realise I’m not messing around.”

Jimi Manuwa will enter his bout with Corey Anderson having scored a 2016 knockout of the year contender over Ovince St. Preux in his last fight. Anderson, meanwhile, is riding high off a December TKO defeat of Sean O’Connell.

Who do you think comes out on top in the UFC London main event? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/13/2017.