UFC on FOX 4: August 4, 2012 Staples Center in Los Angeles, California UFC Featherweight Contender Manny Gamburyan (-175) Profile: The cousin of former UFC contender Karo Parisyan, Manvel “Manny” Gamburyan (11-7) has a strong judo background and the disposition of a 145-pound rhino. After losing the TUF 5 Finale to teammate Nate Diaz due to a shoulder injury, the 31-year-old Armenian fighter was on the shelf for a while, but he followed up that disappointment with two impressive back-to-back wins in the UFC over Nate Moore and Jeff Cox. Unfortunately, he would follow up those wins with consecutive losses to the much bigger Thiago Tavares and Rob Emerson. Following those losses, Gamburyan decided to make the move down to 145 pounds and compete in the WEC, where he would go on a three-fight winning streak only to be defeated by featherweight champ Jose Aldo. He returned to the UFC after the WEC merger but has fallen on hard times with an 0-2 mark to extend his losing streak to three. UFC Featherweight Contender Michihiro Omigawa (+145) Profile: Michihiro Omigawa (13-11-1), the legendary Sengoukou featherweight from Japan, has not had the most impressive career when looking at his Win/Loss record, but the 3rd Dan judo black belt will always give you everything he’s got. When the UFC opened the doors to lighter weight divisions, the 36-year-old Omigawa was one of the first outside the WEC they called. Perhaps it was a mixture of no in-cage training, or the strong wrestling of the U.S., but Omigawa struggled in his debut against Chad Mendes, losing via unanimous decision. Omigawa would next fight Darren Elkins at UFC 131, and although the judges had him on the wrong side of a UD, UFC president Dana White gave both fighters the win bonus. Omigawa finally picked up his first win in the organization against Jason Young at UFC 138 before falling once again to fellow featherweight contender Yuri Alcantara at UFC 142. Opening UFC on FOX 4 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has made Gamburyan a -175 favorite (bet $175 to win $100) against Omigawa, who opened as a +145 underdog (bet $100 to win $145) according to the MMA odds. A pair of judo specialists will square off in this preliminary bout at UFC on FOX 4, and the loser could very well be on his way out of the UFC. Both are coming off losses, and they have just one victory in their past seven fights combined. Each of them have been knocked out twice with a majority of their losses coming via decision. Gamburyan is the younger and more well-rounded of the two, and he may be looking to finish Omigawa on the ground, even though four of his six submission wins took place in the first four bouts of his career.
