Barracuda:CourtesyMarianasVariety

He said he had been offered to fight at the Playboy Mansion and in Strikeforce as well as other events within the past several years but those bouts never materialized due to injuries. He said he wanted to make sure that this upcoming fight in Japan’s biggest fight organization was a definite go. The Variety learned of the news online through the website www.mmamania.com. The official announcement was made on Sept. 18.

Known as “The Mangler” in the ring, Manibusan will be facing Tatsuya Kawajiri who is ranked as the No. 5 lightweight in the world on popular MMA website sherdog.com. Kawajiri’s status as a top fighter is one of the main reasons why Manibusan took the fight, seizing a chance to fight one of the best in the world.

“For the past two and a half years I’ve said no to everything. In turn, I’ve been getting my guys to fight off-island. This time they asked me if I wanted to fight in DREAM and for a second I just looked at the e-mail and I thought this is too good to be true and I said to myself of course I would love to fight in DREAM.”

Manibusan said that the initial e-mail did not list an opponent, but two weeks later he was sent a second e-mail asking him if he would like to fight Kawajiri at 155 pounds. Manibusan didn’t hesitate at that point and immediately accepted the fight.

“I said I would love to fight Kawajiri at 155. After that we did the paperwork and I got my passport and visa.”

For those unfamiliar with Manibusan as a fighter, there is much to know. Manibusan was once regarded as the best wrestler on the island, won numerous grappling  and submission tournaments and at one point was pursuing the Olympics.

Of late, Manibusan has focused on MMA and he made his debut in front of a packed crowd at the University of Guam Field House in Jungle Rules back in 2001. He won his match that night, but much to everyone’s surprise, he strayed from his new sport to chase his wrestling dreams once again.

Fast forward to 2006, nearly five years after his first MMA bout, Manibusan returned to fighting full-force. During that year he fought four times which included a fight against current UFC lightweight Tyson Griffin here on Guam. Manibusan lost that match and dropped three of the four fights that year.

Once again though he left active competition, this time for nearly three years. During that time Manibusan concentrated on building up Spike 22 and healing from injuries that he said needed to be taken care.

With the fight less than two weeks away, it’s crunch time now for Manibusan and he’s making the most of his three weeks of hard training. With passport issues not allowing him to leave island, Manibusan had to turn down an offer from B.J. Penn to train in Hawaii and instead brought in kickboxer Pat Ayuyu and Tetsuji Kato who has fought in over 20 fights in Japan. He says he has dropped over 25 pounds in the last several weeks and will be leaving Guam on Tuesday to train with Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Sakuraba in Japan for his final preparation for the fight.

It’s going to be a battle with Kawajiri and the Japanese media has already counted out Manibusan, who they have dubbed “Barracuda” in a recent marketing ploy.

“Kawajiri is a lot stronger than me, he’s fought and beaten the best of the best,” said Manibusan. “However, for me right now at this stage, I’m in a nothing to lose situation besides getting injured. I just want to give a good showing. I think in order to beat this guy I’m going to have to knock him out. He’s going to be very, very hard to submit, but who knows I could throw a Chamorro punch and lay him flat on his back.”