At Duel Arena 1, Jimi Manuwa returned to combat sports after nearly a decade away and got his first win in years, doing so in thunderous fashion.

Duel Arena 1 hosted the return of Jimi Manuwa, who was once a UFC light heavyweight standout. However, instead of MMA, Manuwa competed in a four-round boxing match with former UFC heavyweight Chase Sherman, but he didn’t need all four rounds to find victory.

Jimi Manuwa returned with a vengeance

Fans hadn’t seen Jimi Manuwa in seven years prior to his return at Duel Arena 1. In fact, some of the newer fans may have been completely unfamiliar with Manuwa before his most recent outing. For those who are familiar with the Englishman, though, his boxing match with Chase Sherman was a reminder of what he once brought to the UFC, as he needed just two rounds to TKO him. In round one, Manuwa slipped on the outside of a Sherman jab, then blasted him over the shoulder with a right cross, before following it up with a left hook to floor him. Sherman, though, is as tough as they come and managed to get back to his feet to beat the referee’s count, but it was a sign of things to come.

However, it wasn’t an effortless performance on Manuwa’s part, as Sherman knocked him down in round two after slipping a left hook and cracking him on the counter with a right. To Sherman’s misfortune, he soon found himself on the wrong end of a Manuwa combination that left him stunned. Manuwa, smelling blood in the water, kept him on the backfoot, then swarmed him with follow-up combinations, rocking and stumbling him until the referee stepped in to wave the fight off.

It’s Manuwa’s first win since his retirement back in 2019. At the time, he was on a four-fight losing streak, having just been knocked out in round one by Aleksandar Rakić at UFC Fight Night 153. His opponent, Sherman, also left the UFC after a rough patch, as he was on a two-fight losing streak and 1-6 in his last 8 fights. Though rather than retire, he continued fighting outside the UFC, going 2-2 in Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA, where fellow UFC alumnus Anthony Smith submitted him in round one at Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 9.