You will hardly see new Finns in the Octagon right away. It wouldn’t be surprising if the next Finnish recipient of a UFC contract was Makwan Amirkhani himself, writes Vinski Virtanen.
It seemed inevitable that the UFC career of Finland’s best free fighter of all time was coming to an end when Makwan Amirkhani match Jack Shore against at London’s O2 Arena in March.
Five of the last six matches have ended in defeat. In the previous run in London in July last year, Amirkhani fell under the roller when Jonathan Pearce was stronger.
In connection with the Pearce match, I met a journalist writing for a Nordic wrestling website, who was interested in hearing about Amirkhan’s popularity and the state of freestyle wrestling in Finland. Finland was anyway on the surface when the NATO process was underway.
Finland was finishing its last ratifications at the same time that Amirkhani was taking on Shore. I met the same journalist again, who asked if there were potential UFC names in Finland besides Amirkhan. I said I don’t think so at the moment. More screens and wins are required.
We met on the tube on the Jubilee line which led away from the O2 arena. I was about to jump a stop earlier to change to the Central route when we said goodbye. “See you next time, when you come to report on Amirkhan again,” exclaimed my acquaintance. In that moment, I found myself answering that there might not be a time like that.
Amirkhani is the single most significant figure in Finnish freestyle wrestling, who raised the popularity of the sport and got the big media to report on UFC events. “Mr. The fighter who received the nickname “Finland” has paved the way for himself and at the same time displayed the Finnish flag 14 times in the sport’s largest organization.
It is cold realism that after the departure of Amirkhani, who experienced seven wins and seven losses, it is difficult to see that there would be new Finns in the octagon right away.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the next Finnish recipient of a UFC contract was Makwan Amirkhani himself.
In the history of the Las Vegas-based organization, it is not at all unusual for fighters who have already been fired to get back into the UFC later.
After the news of the firing came, Amirkhani posted a short text on his Instagram: “I’m not going to stop”. The career will continue in some other free match promotion. There are certainly takers for a wrestler of Amirkhan’s caliber.
The native of Turku turns 35 in November. Recently, he has fought about twice a year, which is quite a normal cycle in a tough sport.
Amirkhani has grabbed three bonuses in his UFC career for his spectacular chokes and has been popular with the match organizers to the extent that he has been allowed to fight Edson Barboza against big names like The relations with the UFC management are probably fine despite the fact that the contract was not renewed now.
The Finn has been a regular name, especially in UFC nights organized in Europe. It is by no means an impossible idea that the UFC would ask Amirkhani to fight in, say, Stockholm, if Amirkhani would take victories in other organizations within the next couple of years.
“Mr. Finland” is known outside of Finland, and the level would be sufficient against slightly weaker UFC fighters than Shore and Pearce. Even 36 or 37 would not be an impossible age for a return.
The dismissals do not mean that Makwan Amirkhani is still Finland’s best freestyle athlete.
Watch the Sportliv mini-documentary on Amirkhan:
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