TUF Graduates Clash at UFC 87

Two graduates of The Ultimate Fighter Season Five will clash at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy. Rob Emerson believes he has the edge over his opponent, Manny Gamburyan.

He told UFC.com:

“Prior to the (TUF 5) show, we did go against each other in the tryouts and he couldn’t take me down. I think that got to him”.

“I think he knows that I’m a bad matchup for him style-wise. He’s a little ball of muscle. He overpowers a lot of guys with his strength, but he’s going to have a tough time doing that with me. I have a good takedown defense and he won’t be able to just shoot in. I’m looking to throw hands and fight an offensive fight the whole time.”

”Manny’s style is not that exciting. He likes to lay and pray, sit heavy in the guard and grind out a three-round decision”.

”I’m going to bang him from the feet and look for elbows and big shots. We are going to see what type of chin Manny has. I don’t think he’ll be able to handle my power come August 9th. I don’t think this fight is going to go three rounds.”

Gamburyan progressed to the final of he reality show - losing to Nate Diaz at The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 Finale. He insists he has improved since being on The Ultimate Fighter:

“I’m an underdog probably because I’m kind of a small guy, I’m shorter than most of the guys out there. 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.”

Gamburyan is proud of his development. He is equally proud of his roots:

“Judo is my background, judo is my life. 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.”