You are reading an article from the archives. In recent years, we have gone through major updates. Minor quirks in layout are possible when perusing older articles.
Makwan Amirkhani. Picture: Facebook
“Would a rematch be an option for you? Or do you just want to move on?”
Makwan Amirkhani, a mixed martial artist from Turku, looked at the journalist open-mouthed at the press conference of his UFC debut in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday night.
“Against who?” Amirkhani asked and continued, “Come on man. Eight seconds. You want less than that?”
Yes: eight seconds. That’s all it took for Amirkhani, 26, a featherweight fighter of Iranian roots, to win his fight in the largest mixed martial arts event in the world, arranged at the Tele2 Arena under the eyes of 30,000 spectators.
The fight was according to UFC the fastest featherweight fight in its history.
And what a way to end the fight it was!
The flying knee
After the fight began, Amirkhani ran towards his British opponent, Andy Orgle, and kicked him with a flying right knee to the body.
After the devastating blow, Orgle was still standing but bent and wobbly.
Amirkhani rushed Orgle against the cage and dropped him with a right uppercut to the chin.
He finished him off with a series of punches and the referee stopped the fight.
Amirkhani cheered, took his mouthpiece off and threw it away.
He ran around the cage, holding his hands in the air and displayed the big dragon tattoo on his back to the audience in all directions.
It was time for a backflip, a big smile and a climb-up to the fence for more cheers.
A bed for mother
“It was just another fight. I was enjoying,” Amirkhani said later at the press conference.
“You don’t fight many times in front of 30,000 people. You’ve got to enjoy it. You don’t die there.”
Amirkhani was asked what he will do with the prize money: 50,000 US dollars.
“I will buy a really nice bed for my mother,” he said and revealed that his mother has been sleeping on a mat in his apartment of two rooms and two children.
“A bed of over 10,000 euros.”
After a small vacation, Amirkhani will move to Stockholm to train for an upcoming fight, which is yet to be set a date.
Makwan Amirkhani posing in a selfie at the press conference at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Picture: Makwan Amirkhani
Sources: Makwan Amirkhani UFC on FOX 14 Post Fight Media Scrum, UFC on FOX 14
