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마누엘 로드리게즈

Favourite grappling technique: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I love submissions.

Favourite striking technique: High Kick

Other sports: Golf and soccer

Where do you train? TPG Gym

What are your strengths as a fighter? Versatility – mixture of grappling, striking and submission.

Why do you think you’ve made it into The Smashes? Head strong, motivated and dedicated.

How / why did you start training in MMA? My uncle was a huge UFC fan from years ago. He talked about the likes of Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell and he said “you've got to watch this man, you've got to watch this”. When I did, we spent an entire night just watching reruns of old UFC events and I knew I had to figure out how to get into this.
I originally started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and then I saw an opportunity to make this serious/professional and I took it. I like the competitiveness, the isolation of it all and the fact that you are not depending on anyone but yourself.

How long have you been training in MMA? 5 years

Why do you love MMA? It’s new and unlike any other sport. It’s exciting and always evolving, I love the whole diversity of it. You can't go into a competition with one skill set, you can’t just be a striker for example, you need an all-round game. I love the way you can defend yourself in so many ways and it’s exciting to watch. I just love it. I'm a huge MMA fan as much as I am a fighter - as soon as I started watching the sport I fell in love with it.

Why do you think you will be the next Ultimate Fighter? I have the most to lose – I will be supporting my family through this so I have a lot of motivation. I have two kids and being in the house, the time away from them is always hard. My son was born six months ago and he just lit a spark and made everything more real for me. My eyes are always on the prize but seeing him just sparked it up again.