JIMI MANUWA gave his four children the perfect introduction to the UFC with a thrilling fight that sadly ended in unanimous decision revenge for Jan Blachowicz.
The heavy-handed Brit had his young family ringside for his hometown fight and the little Manuwa’s witnessed a spectacular gladiatorial show that leaves the scores between daddy and the granite Pole 1-1.
The 38-year-old South Londoner made a daring start with a huge head kick that set to the tone for what would be a thrilling round.
Poster Boy took a couple of wild swings but his Polish rival did well to dodge them as they re-ran their 2015 battle.
Blachowicz got some head-kick revenge inside the first minutes, but another shin bone bounced off skull, creating an echo around the arena.
A sudden surge from Blachowicz, 35, had Manuwa pedalling backwards and suddenly the hometown favourite was dropped.
Manuwa was a victim of his own momentum and was able to regain his feet and engage in more upright brutality.
After two minutes of the second round, the 17-3 Brit was bleeding heavily, the smear across his face making it impossible to tell if the source was his mouth or nose, both could be fairly assumed.
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But still – with cries of ‘Jimi, Jimi’ ringing around the O2 – the UFC’s No4 ranked light-heavy marched onward and took the Polish warrior into the trenches.
By the end of the second, Blachowicz had an almost Terminator appeal, with his one right eye caked in streaming blood and the other crystal clear.
Both corners had frantic breaks to work on the claret flowing freely from the faces of both fighters and the start of the third was welcomed with a coliseum-like raw from the brutality-hungry crowd.
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And their bloodlust was quenched with Manuwa’s nose clearly broken and sprays of blood and sweat spraying all over Greenwich.
Blachowicz clinched the third round with a late piece of cunning as he tackled his old foe to the deck and looked dominant.
And the judges’ scorecards agreed with the final image, reading 29-28, 29-28 and
30-27.
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