Manning has a background in Judo and Sambo. He began training under his father who is a Judo coach and alongside his brothers at the Muskerry Judo Sambo Club and Cork Combat Sambo Club.

He has won the Irish National Judo Championships title over 10 times since he was a child and has won medals at many tournaments around the Ireland/UK region and Europe. He has a JudoInside record of 13 - 22.

In Sambo his results include a silver medal finish at the Paris Sambo Grand Prix, and a gold medal at the German Sambo Grand Prix. Manning holds a notable victory over the former Asian Sambo Champion from Uzbekistan in the final of the German Sambo Grand Prix.

Competing in Freestyle Wrestling, he placed at the 2022 British Wrestling Championships, defeating Welsh MMA standout Lewis Long in the bronze medal match.

Manning has also trained and competed in Georgia, in Georgian folkstyle wrestling called Chidaoba, under his Irish-Georgian Sambo coach, who founded Cork Combat Sambo club in the early 2000s.