Five Ounces of Pain: Interview with Manny Gamburyan

The fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality television show was not immune to the numerous upsets that have taken place in MMA this year. Coming into the show, Matt Wiman, Joe Lauzon, Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard were considered the fighters likely to win the lightweight tournament and a contract to fight for the UFC.

But Manny Gamburyan proved to be a pit bull and knocked off both Wiman and Lauzon on his way to the finals, much to the surprised of everyone, including UFC president Dana White.

Gamburyan will have a chance to knock off another one of the show's favorites, Nate Diaz, as he attempts to take first place during the show's live season finale this Saturday at 9 p.m. on Spike TV.

Despite preparing hard for the fight, Gamburyan was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to speak with CBS SportsLine.com.

CBS SportsLine.com: You're going to be facing Nate Diaz in the final. You guys aren't just in the fight game yourselves, but you have relatives who fight as well. How well did you know Nate before the show started?

Manny Gamburyan: To be honest with you, I had never met him in my life. I saw him when he was cornering his brother, Nick Diaz, when he was fighting Karo Parisyan (Gamburyan's cousin). So I was aware of Nate, but I never knew he was a fighter until I saw him in the show.

Q: It appeared that the two of you became friends during the course of the show. But after last week's episode, it appears there might have been some tension after Nate and Karo got into an argument. Did that incident affect your friendship at all?

MG: No, not at all. That's between Karo and Nate. I have nothing against Nate. He's my next opponent, and I'm going to try to take care of business. It's nothing against me or Karo.

Manny Gamburyan is ready for Nate Diaz. (UFC)

It's Karo's deal, you know? It was a misunderstanding between Nate Diaz and Karo Parisyan. I'm not going to stop being his friend because Nate was real cool with me. I'm not going to say Karo was the problem or Nate was the problem. It was a misunderstanding, that's all. They get along OK.

Q: Karo was able to corner you during your last couple of fights on the show. Were you completely surprised when he showed up, or did the producers tip you off at all beforehand?

MG: I was completely surprised. I was on a treadmill getting ready for my second fight against Matt Wiman when all of a sudden, I turned around and saw Karo. It was like second life. I was missing my family, missing my friends, this and that. When I saw him, I was like "Oh my God, thanks for coming, bro. You saved me!"

Q: Will he be cornering you this Saturday during the lightweight final?

MG: Unfortunately, no. He and my instructor don't get along. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be in my corner. He's going to be there for sure, but he's not going to corner me.