By Michael David Smith
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Two years ago,
Manny Gamburyan advanced to the
Ultimate Fighter Finale and -- despite losing his fight in the finale because of a shoulder injury -- looked like a promising young UFC lightweight star. But after suffering back-to-back losses in the UFC in the last year, Gamburyan made a difficult decision: At 5-foot-5, he was too small to fight in the UFC, even as a lightweight.
Now Gamburyan has dropped 10 pounds and is getting ready to make his debut as a featherweight in World Extreme Cagefighting. In an interview with FanHouse, Gamburyan said he's feeling great as he prepares for his fight with John Franchi on Sunday night at
WEC 41, and he says he'll be paying close attention to the main event fight for the featherweight belt that night, because that's a belt Gamburyan has his eye on. The full interview is below.
Michael David Smith: How is the move down to 145 pounds going?Manny Gamburyan: It's going really well. I was expecting it to be harder but it's just been a matter of eating right, dieting. I'm almost there.
Will you be as strong at featherweight as you were at lightweight?Definitely.
What do you weigh right now?About 153.
Was it at all disappointing to you to leave the UFC for the WEC, or is it a good thing for you?It's a good thing. It's good for me because I can compete in my own weight class now. With my height (5-foot-5), featherweight just makes more sense than lightweight. Most guys who fight at lightweight cut weight to get down to 155, but I don't have to cut to fight at 155. Now I'm cutting weight so I'm going to have an advantage. I think I'm going to be stronger and faster in this weight class.
How much do you know about John Franchi?He's a well-rounded wrestler and has a good submission game. He's a gamer. He knows what he's doing. He hasn't fought anybody as good as me, though. I don't see myself getting into trouble in this fight, but it's a fight. Anything can happen.
Do you have a specific game plan for him?I do, but we'll see if the fight goes the way I think. I have an A game plan, a B game plan and a C game plan and whatever works that night, I'll do it.
Your background is in judo. Do you still view yourself as fighting with a judo style, or do you see yourself as an all-around fighter without any one specialty?I came up in judo, and that was my main thing. It's still my background as far as using throws, and it's where my conditioning comes from. But I mix it up, with boxing and kickboxing. In MMA you can't just go in there and be a judo fighter. You have to mix it up.
How does your judo background affect your ground game, and is there one particular submission that you consider your specialty?My jiu jitsu is a little different than most people because I don't think as much about pulling guard or passing the guard. Every position I'm in I look for submissions. If I see a leg, I take the leg. If I see a knee, I take the knee. If I see the neck, I'll take the neck. If I see an arm, I'll take the arm. Whatever's there I'm looking for. If there's an opening I'm going to go for it. Judo has limited submissions, chokes and arm bars, that's it. In judo you don't use knee bars, leg locks, guillotine locks or anything like that. My game plan is really just to take whatever's there.
Another guy who's fighting at WEC 41 is Jens Pulver, who was your coach on The Ultimate Fighter a couple years ago. What did you learn from him?Jens is the man. I like him a lot as a coach, and besides being a coach, he was a very nice guy. He was humble and he helped me a lot, and he never gave up on me. As long as he's in shape for his fight, I'm pretty sure he's going to win.
In addition to Jens, who else has coached you during your fighting career?I go to
Freddie Roach's gym. I'm always trying to get better, looking for tips from other fighters, from coaches, from trainers and nutritionists, from watching tape of other MMA fights, from watching boxing matches and kickboxing matches, watching judo, watching wrestling. That's how I get better.
Watching other fighters is a big part of how you get better as a fighter?Yes. Watching tape is very important.
Is there any one fighter you've watched on tape and tried to emulate?There are a lot of them. I look at
Fedor Emelianenko and I just think, "he's not human."
Anderson Silva,
Georges St Pierre,
BJ Penn. Those are great fighters and you can learn a lot from watching those guys.
The two best fighters in your weight class, Mike Brown and Urijah Faber, will fight for the title at WEC 41. Do you have your eye on that title?That's what I'm here for. It's all about getting that belt around my waist. I think if I follow the right path, I can do it.
What are your thoughts on that Brown-Faber fight?I'm a fan of the sport, and I think I'm lucky to be there for that fight. It's a huge fight for the sport because those two guys have so much talent. Urijah is going to try to not make the same mistake he made in their first fight, and Mike is going to try to prove to people that he's still the champ.
How far do you think you are from getting a shot at one of them?I'm just going to take on this fight first. John Franchi is a guy I want to finish off and then I'll take whoever the WEC matches up with me. I just want to keep winning and get the belt some day. That's my goal.
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Read More: mannygamburyan, wec 41, wec41, mma fighting exclusive, Manny Gamburyan (MMA)
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