Manvel Gamburyan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Manvel "Manny" Gamburyan is an Armenian American mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

. He was a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter 5

The Ultimate Fighter 5

The Ultimate Fighter 5 was the fifth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter...

. Besides The Ultimate Fighter, Gamburyan has fought for notable promotions such as King of the Cage

King of the Cage

King of the Cage, also known as KOTC, is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, USA.-History:KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features up and coming MMA stars as well as experienced combat fighters....

and the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

.

Gamburyan is fighting in the featherweight

Featherweight

Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...

division of the UFC and is currently ranked as the #10 Featherweight mixed martial artist in the world by Sherdog.com, #9 by MMAFighting.com.

Early life

In May 1991, Gamburyan's family relocated from Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

to the United States. Shortly after his arrival, he began training in judo at Gokor Chivichyan's

Gokor Chivichyan

Gokor Chivichyan is an Armenian Judo, submission grappling, and mixed martial arts instructor. Gokor currently trains professional and amateur fighters at the Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood. Chivichyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia....

and Gene LeBell

Gene LeBell

Ivan Gene LeBell is a former American Judo champion, instructor, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and professional wrestler born in Los Angeles, California. LeBell has worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows, and has authored a number of books.In 2000, he was promoted to 9th Dan in US Ju-Jitsu...

's Hayastan MMA Academy and quickly became one of the top judoka in the country, winning junior nationals less than two years later. He went on to win junior nationals eight times, the junior Olympics once, and was a member of the 2000 judo junior world team.

Mixed martial arts career

Gamburyan began his career in 1999 at the age of 17. He won his first four fights, then lost a decision to future UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk

Sean Sherk

Sean Keith Sherk is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently fighting for the UFC. He currently holds a professional mixed martial arts record of thirty-six wins, four losses and one draw. Sherk has fought in both the UFC and Pride FC, and is a former UFC Lightweight Champion...

in 2001. His cousin Karo Parisyan nicknamed him "Pitbull" for the tenacity he displayed in the fight.

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2007, Gamburyan appeared on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter 5
The Ultimate Fighter 5
The Ultimate Fighter 5 was the fifth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter...

, fighting on Jens Pulver

Jens Pulver

Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American mixed martial artist . He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show, which aired on Spike TV. He was formerly signed as a featherweight with World Extreme Cagefighting , which is...

's team. His nickname was changed to "Anvil" for his UFC career because "Pitbull" was already taken by other UFC fighters such as Andrei Arlovski

Andrei Arlovski

Andrei Valeryevich Arlovski is a Belarusian kickboxer, mixed martial artist and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion.-Biography:...

and Thiago Alves

Thiago Alves

Thiago Alves d'Araujo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He started training in Muay Thai when he was 15 and mixed martial arts at 17. He is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has been described as a "Muay Thai wrecking machine". As of July 2011, He is currently ranked the #10 welterweight...

.

Gamburyan defeated Noah Thomas by kimura lock in the preliminary round. In his next matchup, Gamburyan defeated Matt Wiman

Matt Wiman

Matthew Charles Wiman is an American mixed martial artist, who competes as a lightweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship...

to advance to the semifinal round.

In the semifinal round, Gamburyan beat Joe Lauzon

Joe Lauzon

Joseph E. Lauzon Jr. is an American mixed martial artist from Brockton, Massachusetts. He currently lives in Massachusetts and is training at Lauzon MMA in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.-Early life and background:...

in a unanimous decision and advanced to the finale with Nathan Diaz

Nathan Diaz

Nathan Donald Diaz is an American mixed martial artist, currently competing for the UFC in the welterweight and lightweight divisions. He is well known as the Ultimate Fighter Season 5 champion and has amassed victories in Strikeforce, Pancrase, and the World Extreme Cagefighting promotions...

. He was considered an underdog in each of his fights, in part due to his short stature. After the Lauzon fight, UFC president Dana White

Dana White

Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...

personally apologized to Gamburyan for doubting him. In the finale, Gamburyan controlled Diaz for the majority of the fight, but tapped out in the second round after dislocating his right shoulder on an unsuccessful takedown attempt.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Despite losing the show, Gamburyan secured a UFC contract with his performance. He won his next two UFC fights, defeating Nate Mohr

Nate Mohr

Nate Mohr is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division.He made his UFC debut in April 2007 against Kurt Pellegrino. He was sidelined over a year due to a leg injury following his loss by achilles lock to Manny Gamburyan at UFC 79. He lost his last fight at UFC 93...

by ankle lock at UFC 79
UFC 79
UFC 79: Nemesis was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship , that took place on December 29, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...

and Jeff Cox by guillotine choke

Guillotine choke

The guillotine choke is a chokehold in martial arts and wrestling applied from in front of the opponent. The choke involves using the arms to encircle the opponent's neck in a fashion similar to a guillotine. The technique is either a type of tracheal compression restraint that prevents air flow...

at UFC Fight Night 13
UFC Fight Night 13
UFC Fight Night: Florian vs Lauzon referred to by the media as UFC Fight Night 13 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 2, 2008 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado. The event was a lead-in to the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 7 on...

. Gamburyan raised some controversy in the Cox fight by delivering a spinning leg kick after feigning the mutual tap of gloves that is often seen at the beginning of the match. The crowd in attendance reacted with heavy booing.

He was knocked out by Rob Emerson at UFC 87

UFC 87

UFC 87: Seek and Destroy was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 9, 2008, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Background:...

in 12 seconds, one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history.

At UFC 94

UFC 94

UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 31, 2009. The card featured five televised MMA bouts, as well as five un-aired preliminary bouts...

, Gamburyan lost to Brazilian contender, Thiago Tavares

Thiago Tavares

Thiago de Mello Tavares is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He currently fights in the lightweight division in the UFC.-Ultimate Fighting Championship:Thiago Tavares entered the UFC with an undefeated record and was highly regarded...

World Extreme Cagefighting

After his defeat to Thiago Tavares

Thiago Tavares

at UFC 94, Gamburyan decided to drop down to the Zuffa-owned WEC's featherweight division (145 pounds). His first featherweight fight was a win over John Franchi

John Franchi

John Franchi is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights in WEC's featherweight division. His debut for WEC was a split-decision-win over Mike Budnik at WEC 39...

at WEC 41

WEC 41

WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on June 7, 2009 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. It was the most successful show in the WEC's history....

.

Gamburyan defeated Leonard Garcia

Leonard Garcia

Leonard Garcia is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He previously fought for the UFC in the lightweight division before moving down to the featherweight division in the World Extreme Cagefighting...

on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44

WEC 44

WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting. It took place on November 18, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.The event drew an estimated 414,000 viewers on Versus.-Preliminary card:...

via unanimous decision.

Gamburyan fought former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown

Mike Brown (fighter)

Mike Thomas Brown is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization and is a former WEC Featherweight Champion...

at WEC 48

WEC 48

UFC Presents: Aldo vs. Faber, also referred to as WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on April 24, 2010 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California...

. He won by knockout in the first round as well as getting the Knockout of the night bonus of $65,000.

Gamburyan lost by knockout to José Aldo

Jose Aldo

José Aldo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competes as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is the first and current UFC Featherweight Champion...

in the second round of the WEC Featherweight Championship bout on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51

WEC 51

WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on September 30, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. The event was the first that the WEC hosted in Colorado.-Background:...

UFC Return

On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting

World Extreme Cagefighting

World Extreme Cagefighting was an American mixed martial arts promotion. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship , in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was made up of 3 weight classes: 135, 145 and 155 lbs. To accommodate the smaller...

merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

Gamburyan was expected to face Raphael Assunção on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128

UFC 128

UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.-Background:...

, but was forced out of the bout with a back injury and replaced by Erik Koch

Erik Koch

Erik Koch is an American mixed martial artist who currently fights as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.-Personal Life:Koch enrolled in Taekwondo classes at the ripe age of four peaking his interest in MMA...

.

Gamburyan next faced Tyson Griffin

Tyson Griffin

Tyson Lee Griffin is an American mixed martial artist from Albany, California. Griffin currently fights as a Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship .-Early life:...

on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Gamburyan was expected to face Diego Nunes on September 24, 2011 at UFC 135

UFC 135

UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 24, 2011 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.-Background:...

, but but was forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a shoulder injury.

Gamburyan/Nunes is expected to take place on December 30, 2011 at UFC 141

UFC 141

UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 30, 2011, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...

Mixed martial arts record

|-
|Loss
|align=center| 11-6
|

Tyson Griffin

Tyson Lee Griffin is an American mixed martial artist from Albany, California. Griffin currently fights as a Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship .-Early life:...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
|Loss
|align=center| 11-5
|

José Aldo

Jose Aldo

José Aldo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competes as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he is the first and current UFC Featherweight Champion...

| KO (punches)
|WEC 51

WEC 51

Broomfield, Colorado

The City and County of Broomfield is a prominent suburb and tier of the Denver metropolitan area in the State of Colorado of the United States. Broomfield has a consolidated city and county government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|For WEC Featherweight Championship
|-
|Win
|align=center| 11-4
|

Mike Brown

Mike Brown (fighter)

Mike Thomas Brown is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization and is a former WEC Featherweight Champion...

|KO (punches)
|WEC 48

WEC 48

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|Won Knockout of the Night
|-
|Win
|align=center| 10-4
|

Leonard Garcia

| Decision (unanimous)
|WEC 44

WEC 44

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
|Win
|align=center| 9-4
|

John Franchi

John Franchi is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights in WEC's featherweight division. His debut for WEC was a split-decision-win over Mike Budnik at WEC 39...

|Decision (unanimous)
|WEC 41

WEC 41

Thiago Tavares

| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC 94

UFC 94

|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 8-3
|

Rob Emerson

Robert Michael Emerson is an American mixed martial artist. Emerson is a former Pancrase and King of the Cage fighter. He was a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 5.-The Ultimate Fighter:...

| KO (punches)
| UFC 87

UFC 87

UFC 87: Seek and Destroy was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 9, 2008, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Background:...

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 8-2
|

Jeff Cox
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:41
|Broomfield, Colorado, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 7-2
|

Nate Mohr

| Submission (achilles lock)
| UFC 79

UFC 79

UFC 79: Nemesis was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship , that took place on December 29, 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...

|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:31
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 6-2
|

Nate Diaz
| Submission (injury)
| The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 23, 2007. Featured were the finals from The Ultimate Fighter 5 in the Lightweight division as well as a main event between B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver.- Preliminary card :*Lightweight...

|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 0:20
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 6-1
|

Belleville, Illinois

Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city has a population of 44,478. It is the eighth-most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area and the most populated city south of Springfield in the state of Illinois. It is the county...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 5-1
|

Jorge Santiago

|-| Loss|align=center| 23-10| Demian Maia| Decision | UFC 136| |align=center| 3|align=center| 5:00| Houston, Texas, United States||-| Loss|align=center| 23–9| Brian Stann| TKO | UFC 130| |align=center| 2|align=center| 4:29...

San Jacinto, California

San Jacinto is a city in Riverside County, California, U.S.A. It was named after Saint Hyacinth and is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south. The mountains associated with the valley are the San Jacinto Mountains. The population was 44,199 at the 2010...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 4-1
|

Sean Sherk

| Decision (unanimous)
| Reality Submission Fighting 3
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 18:00
|Belleville, Illinois, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 4-0
|

Pat Benson
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| Reality Submission Fighting 2
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:01
|Belleville, Illinois, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 3-0
|

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 2-0
|

Timothy Morris
| Technical Submission (choke)
| Kage Kombat 12
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:16
|Los Angeles, California, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 1-0
|

External links

See him in The HyeFighters Show
Official UFC Profile
Anvil Official website
HyeFighters - Armenian Combat Sports Athletes
http://www.spiketv.com/#shows/ultimatefighter5/index.jhtml – Ultimate Fighter 5 Show on Spike TV
The Ultimate Fighter 5 Bio

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