Aug-3-2008
Manny Gamburyan - The Underdog Advocate
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Womens G Velour Suit - Kelly Green
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By Rhett Butler
Manny Gamburyan is always the underdog in an MMA fight. Deny it if you want but in the court of popular opinion among followers of this sport it is the truth. The thing is, Manny knows this and is comfortable here because as Al Pacino’s character said in the movie, The Devil’s Advocate, “you’ll never see him coming.” And just like Al Pacino’s dapper high-browed New York version of the devil, Manny Gamburyan is no underdog at all.
“I’m an underdog probably because I’m kind of a small guy, I’m shorter than most of the guys out there,” he said. “Even on The Ultimate Fighter show I was the shortest one, I was the lightest one, I was the smallest one but nobody will underestimate me because I fight hard and I train hard - that’s the main plan. You want to beat me? Then you have got to train harder than me. I train really hard every day, three, sometimes five, times. I put hours into it and I don’t care about my weight; I just worry about my skills. I want to get my boxing going, my kickboxing going, my Jiu-Jitsu, my throwing - you know I’m a complete MMA fighter now.”
Before MMA stardom, Manny Gamburyan was an intense judo player. Judo acted as a salve to the self-described “hyper kid” who had an itch for something. Starting in 1991, Gamburyan mainly did tournaments but garnered increased attention for his mastery of the sport. Having won many titles and world recognition for his judo talents, yet another hunger began to stir.
“Judo is my background, judo is my life,” he said. “For me, judo is still the best sport in the world. I don’t put anything down, but that’s the way I started and I love judo to death. It helped me a lot - my base, my throws, my conditioning, my strength, my arm strength, you know, a little bit of everything. To be an MMA fighter you can’t be just one dimensional, just be a wrestler or a judo guy and go out there and win some fights. You might win a couple of fights but you won’t go far. So that’s why I always make sure I always wrestle with the wrestling team, with my good buddies that are Olympians. But when it comes down to it - the spirit of fighting, I love it. It’s not only business, I love fighting it’s just a hobby. How could you not like fighting? It’s fun to go out there, beat somebody up and get paid (Laughs).”
Making his debut in 1999, along with cousin Karo Parisyan on the same card, Manny went on a three fight win streak. None of the three fights went past the first round. A decision loss to Sean Sherk was followed by two wins over Jorge Santiago and Sam Morgan. The former judoka was now ready for the big leagues and it came in the form of The Ultimate Fighter 5. A new path had been cemented as another dream came true.
“When I found out about the UFC, I was a big huge fan of it. I loved it, so this is a dream come true because I wanted to fight in that cage. I always loved MMA. I love the art and it’s the hardest sport in the world, no doubt. You can’t just be a boxer and do your thing, you can’t just be a wrestler and just go do your thing you know you have to be a mixed martial arts fighter. It’s a lot of hard training and motivation and you go through a lot. I’m very, very, very motivated in the sport because I want to be a champion one day and my goal is to win fights and win the whole thing and be a champion in the UFC.”
The next challenge for Gamburyan lies in Rob Emerson, a fellow cast mate on The Ultimate Fighter. Emerson, whose last win was a split decision over Keita Nakamura at UFC 81, showcased his will against Nate Diaz in a memorable loss on the TUF show.
“Rob is a good kick boxer, he has a good takedown defense, he has good striking, he had decent Jiu-Jitsu, but we’ll see. Wherever the fight goes I’m comfortable with it. My training is going good, I’ve got a lot of good wrestling partners to kickboxers to good Jiu-Jitsu guys I’ve been training with, and Eddie Bravo sometimes too. I’m learning some good stuff from him.”
As the upcoming bout with Emerson looms in Minnesota, Manny Gamburyan is looking to fulfill more dreams while satisfying the inner hyper kid within.
“The Manny Gamburyan legacy hopefully, in a couple years I’ll be (pauses) UFC Lightweight Champion. That’s my hope, that’s my plan, that’s what I train for, that’s the only thing I train for, the belt. I don’t care who’s in front of me, I’m training hard for the belt. I’m not there yet there are a lot of good guys that I have to pass first, but I promise you I will be there one day.”
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