Makwan Amirkhani

Makwan Amirkhani (ماکوان ئەمیرخانی; born November 8, 1988) is a Finnish retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division.

He is most notable for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Amirkhani was born in Kermanshah, Iran into a Kurdish family.

The family fled from Iran to Iraq and settled in UNHCR's Al-Tash refugee camp.

In the aftermath of the Iran–Iraq War, the family were resettled to Vaasa, Finland, around 1993.

Growing up as a small-sized immigrant in Vaasa, Amirkhani was subjected to serious physical and mental bullying from daycare up until the upper comprehensive school.

He moved with his family to Turku in 2004, where he went to the upper comprehensive school.

Amirkhani moved to Kotka to study in a high school suited for students with professional sports aspirations.

However, he dropped out of the school and moved back to Turku where he failed to graduate from high schools twice.

Eventually on a third try, he was accepted to study in Pajulahti Sports Institute from where he graduated.

He hails from an amateur wrestling background, having trained since a young age, competing for the Finnish national team; winning silver in the Finnish National Championship in Freestyle in 2010 and bronze in 2013 in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Amirkhani began training in mixed martial arts at the age of 16 and had his first professional fight in 2010.

Competing on the regional circuit solely in Finland, he compiled a record of 10–2, with eight finishes, all by submission and all in the first round, before signing with the UFC in December 2014.

Amirkhani made his promotional debut against Andy Ogle on 24 January 2015 at UFC on Fox 14.

He won the fight via TKO only 8 seconds into the first round.

He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.

Amirkhani was briefly linked to a bout with Diego Rivas on 20 June 2015 at UFC Fight Night 69.

However, shortly after the bout was announced, Rivas was pulled from the fight due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by Masio Fullen.

Amirkhani won the fight by submission due to a rear naked choke in the first round.

Amirkhani faced Mike Wilkinson on 27 February 2016, at UFC Fight Night 84.

He won the fight by unanimous decision.

In January 2017, Amirkhani signed a new, four-fight contract with the UFC.

In the first bout he faced Arnold Allen on 18 March 2017 at UFC Fight Night 107.

He lost the fight by split decision.

Amirkhani faced Jason Knight on 27 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130 Amirkhani won the back-and-forth fight via split decision, after being knocked down twice with uppercuts.

Amirkhani faced Chris Fishgold at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Smith on 1 June 2019.

He won the fight via an anaconda choke submission in the second round.

The win also earned Amirkhani his second Performance of the Night bonus award.

Amirkhani faced Shane Burgos on 2 November 2019 at UFC 244.

He lost the fight via TKO in the third round.

Amirkhani was expected to face Mike Grundy at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards on 21 March 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed and the bout scrapped.

Instead Amirkhani faced Danny Henry on 12 July 2020 at UFC 251.

He won the fight via a submission in round one.

Amirkhani faced Edson Barboza, replacing Sodiq Yusuff, on 11 October 2020 at UFC Fight Night 179.

He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Amirkhani was scheduled to face Nate Landwehr on 5 June 2021 at UFC Fight Night 189.

However, Landwehr was pulled from the event due to injury and he was replaced by newcomer Kamuela Kirk.

Amirkhani lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Amirkhani was scheduled to face Tristan Connelly on 30 October 2021 at UFC 267.