Aleksandar Rakic accuses Jimi Manuwa of sucker punch during UFC London altercation, Manuwa responds

Jimi Manuwa and Aleksandar Rakic face off ahead of their fight at UFC Sweden on June 1, 2019 | Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images

Aleksandar Rakic and Jimi Manuwa met in the octagon three years ago, but there is still plenty of bad blood between them.

On Sunday, Rakic posted a video to Twitter in which he claimed that Manuwa attempted to punch him following the conclusion of Saturday’s UFC London event at O2 Arena. Rakic defeated Manuwa via a head kick knockout in just 42 seconds at a June 2019 event in Stockholm, Sweden, a loss that turned out to be the final fight of Manuwa’s career.

“Jimi Manuwa, you piece of s***,” Rakic said. “You son of a b****, what a p**** move you did last night on me. Guys, I would just like to let you know after the event at UFC London security was escorting me to the transfer back to the hotel and ‘Mr. Still Sleep’ was sitting in my row at the end of the row so I needed to pass him by. I passed by and he talked to me, something, I didn’t really pay attention. First and second, I have nothing to do with that guy. For me, this is over, so I start to turn away and he sucker punched me.

“Even in that close range, he couldn’t catch my head. I think he hit me with the forearm on my neck. The security was so fast here and they separated us. What a f****** p**** move. You knew that I’d be alone in London by myself. You knew that I had surgery nine weeks ago and you did this. You are such a bad, bad loser and I want people to know what a piece of s*** you are. I’m going to stay in your head forever. I retired you, I knocked you out, and the world saw that. So happy retirement, ‘Mr. Sleep.’”

Hey Jimi,
I thought you were still asleep?#UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/ebdKQv4QQm

— Aleksandar Rakic (@rakic_ufc) July 24, 2022

It didn’t take long for Manuwa to respond as the former UFC light heavyweight contender posted a comment via Instagram Story. Manuwa appeared to confirm that there was a physical altercation at UFC London stemming from “online” comments made by Rakic.

@jimimanuwa, Instagram

“Hey Rakic, instead of keeping it professional you chose to talk s*** online so I told you I will slap you when I see you,” Manuwa wrote. “I saw you.”

Rakic is currently on the mend after a leg injury brought an abrupt end to his bout with former champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC Vegas 54 this past May. He is currently No. 6 at light heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings.