Manny: "I Want to Fight Right Now"

UFC lightweight and TUF 5 finalist Manny Gamburyan spoke quite candidly with MMAWeekly.com recently about the second-round shoulder injury that forced him to tap against Nate Diaz in their June 23 TUF 5 championship fight.

Manny discussed his injury, the healing process, and the possibility of a rematch with Nate Diaz. Here are some of the highlights:

- "I heard he said that he didn't want a rematch. You better give me a rematch, bro. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't my fault. I want a rematch as soon as possible."

- "He didn't even damage me, bro. He didn't do anything. He will be the last guy I would be scared of. I fought Sean Sherk when I was 18 years old. Why would I be scared to fight Nate Diaz?"

- "I was winning, of course. Everyone knew I was winning. Everybody wants to see this fight again. It wasn't supposed to end this way."

- "If I have to fight a couple guys until I fight Diaz, I'll do it. As soon as possible. I swear to God. I might be hurting, but I want to fight right now."

I've always liked Manny. He's a nasty little bastard whose size (5'5" -- but who really knows for sure) dictates that he rush his opponents with a burst of power and an overwhelming ground attack. In my view, he easily won the first round against Diaz, and I think that he has a great chance of beating the Gracie product in a rematch - barring another shoulder injury, of course.

Morning Droppings

- Manny Gamburyan has confirmed that his fight-ending injury during his match against Nate Diaz on Saturday was, in fact, a dislocated shoulder. No word on when we'll see him compete again.

- I re-watched the Gray Maynard/Rob Emerson fight last night, and the No Contest ruling still doesn't make sense. Maynard may have knocked himself silly with the slam, but Emerson definitely tapped, and it seemed that referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the match upon seeing Emerson's tap. But what do I know.

- It seems that up next for the almighty, undefeated Kimbo Slice is MMA legend Tank Abbott. The two will reportedly fight as part of a September Cage Fury Fighting Championship card.

It Makes You Wonder...

Manny's win over Loe Lauzon last night got me thinking...

As you may know, Joe burst onto the scene by knocking out former lightweight champion Jens Pulver in what proved to be the first of many recent UFC upsets. After Joe won his first TUF bout against Brian Geraghty, Jens, who coached Geraghty this season, seemed almost satisfied that Joe had beaten one of his own fighters.

"I'm glad he won," a grinning Jens said during episode six, almost as if to say, "See, guys, he really is tough."

That said, is it altogether ridiculous to think that Jens -- at least a little part of him -- wouldn't have minded seeing Lauzon win the TUF 5 contract? Might that have vindicated his earlier KO loss to Lauzon? After all, it was Manny, the smallest fighter on the show, who was able to do what his legendary coach could not: beat Joe Lauzon.

I know that it's fruitless to think, "Well, if Manny beat Joe, and Joe beat Jens, then Manny could beat Jens," and I know that the transitive property of ass-kicking may not apply here. But I'm not Jens Pulver.