Jun-20-2007

Gamburyan’s Relentless Charge leads him to Vegas Saturday

By Thomas Gerbasi

Entering season five of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, most believed that at best, Manvel ‘Manny’ Gamburyan would possibly do enough to warrant an undercard bout on the season finale card, but nothing more. Few but the hardcore fans knew who he was, and at 5 foot 5, they figured that he was just too small to compete against the young guns of the 155-pound weight class.

Two believed though – Gamburyan, and his coach, Jens Pulver.

“To be honest with you, it was only me and Jens Pulver who knew how strong I was,” said Gamburyan, who steamrolled his way through his three opponents on the show to make it to the TUF5 finale against Nate Diaz. “He was the only one who had the confidence in me to say, ‘Manny, you can win the whole show.’ I don’t care what people think. I know I’m the lightest one, the shortest one, but the way I work out, I don’t want to lose. I work like an animal. I don’t stop.”

That non-stop aggression was in evidence the moment the 26-year old Armenian took to the Octagon against Noah Thomas, and after that first round win, there was no stopping him, as he pounded out wins against UFC vets Matt Wiman and Joe Lauzon to make it to the finals, prompting UFC President Dana White to apologize to Gamburyan for underestimating him, saying, “Manny is 10 times the fighter I thought he was.”

Take away his obvious disadvantage in height though, and past history will show that Gamburyan is no joke in any sense of the word. A 1991 immigrant to the United States from Leninakan, Armenia, Gamburyan - along with cousin and UFC contender Karo Parisyan – had trouble adjusting to life in California, and by the time the two were teenagers, fighting became a way of life.

“When I was fighting in high school I was getting kicked out left and right,” he recalls. “So when I found out I could make money fighting, I was like ‘I’d rather do that then go to high school.’”

By the time he was 15, he had his first mixed martial arts fight, and by 17, he was a pro, using his substantial judo game (he’s an eight-time junior national champion) to make an impact on foes almost immediately. His early pro career was most notable for a three round decision loss to future UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk in 2001, but after the loss he wouldn’t fight again for two years due to injuries and his focus on his judo career.

When he did come back in August of 2003, he was impressive, taking out future UFC fighter Jorge Santiago in just 21 seconds, and then decisioning The Ultimate Fighter 2’s Sammy Morgan less than five months later. By then, the UFC was showing interest, but a nasty cut on his nose suffered in the Morgan fight prevented him from taking a short notice fight in the Octagon. Soon after, the UFC lightweight division was on hiatus, and with Gamburyan able to fight at 170 but being severely hampered by the size difference, he was forced to the sidelines.

“They took out 155 and I was so sad,” he remembered. “I could still fight 170, but those 170 guys are too big for me.”

Last December though, a ray of light came in the form of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who wondered if Gamburyan was interested in season five of The Ultimate Fighter. He wasn’t

“I wasn’t a big fan of The Ultimate Fighter show,” he admitted. “But I said ‘I’ll do it.’ I tried out and I went through. Thank God I did it.”

Would he do it again?

“Hell no,” he laughs. “I wouldn’t do it again, but I don’t regret it.”

Especially not when he’s one fight away from a UFC contract if he can get by his Team Pulver teammate, Diaz.

“He’s a good fighter – tall, skinny, southpaw,” said Gamburyan of Diaz. “But I don’t care about my opponent. It’s just a fight, another day in the office for me. I’m training like I’ve never trained before – I really don’t care if it’s him or Sean Sherk – it’s all the same to me.”

What isn’t the same for Gamburyan is life after TUF5, something made abundantly clear to him when he went to Las Vegas in May to corner his cousin for his fight against Josh Burkman.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “When I went to Karo’s fight on May 26th, it’s like I’m a totally different person than I was a couple of months ago. It’s unreal. Everybody’s yelling ‘Oh my God, that’s Manny.’ Everybody’s coming up to me for autographs and taking pictures. Thank God I did it. I ended up in a beautiful place and I hope it’s gonna go on and on.”

A lot of that depends on what happens Saturday, but just in case you had any doubts, Manny Gamburyan is ready, willing, and able to begin the next phase of his MMA career with a win over Diaz. In fact, he can’t wait for that bell to ring.

“I’m hungry for the Octagon right now,” he said. “I fought three fights in five and a half weeks, and I want to go in there and fight. I don’t want to sit here anymore. Nate knows that I’m not a joke and that it’s not gonna be an easy fight. We both deserve to be in the finals, and it’s gonna be a huge fight. I’m gonna attack from beginning to end. I won’t stop.”

This Saturday, from 9am to 9pm, catch Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter 5 marathon. Every episode from the most explosive and exciting TUF season yet will air back-to-back, leading to the live season finale, which features the rematch between coaches Jens Pulver and BJ Penn and the TUF5 final between Nate Diaz and Manny Gamburyan.