Makwan Amirkhani (16-4) has been on the edge of MMA stardom, and now he finally has a well-known opponent in Brazilian striker Edson Barboza (20-9) to build his name on the UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen fight card on October 10 at UFC Fight Island.
Barboza was scheduled to face Sodiq Yusuff. However, Yusuff was forced to pull out of the fight. Shortly after, “Mr. Finland” signed on as a replacement.
Despite Barboza’s rich history in the lightweight division, he steps down to featherweight once again, after an unsuccessful debut in the UFC’s featherweight division against Dan Ige at UFC on ESPN 8. Despite his 3-fight losing streak, he is a veteran that is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the division and has one of the most famous KO’s in UFC history in 2012 against Terry Etim with a wheel kick.
Barboza stepped into the octagon with a lot of the top 15 fighters, in one of the most competitive divisions in the UFC. Despite Barboza’s losses to the very best in the division: Nurmagomedov, Ferguson and Gaethje, he managed to beat the former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, as well as Beneil Dariush, Gilbert Melendez, Dan Hooker and lastly, Paul Felder, who managed to avenge his loss to Barboza at UFC 242.
Amirkhani started off his career in the UFC at UFC on FOX 14 in Stockholm, Sweden, when he has knocked out Andy Ogle in just 8 seconds. Amirkhani’s UFC career consists of 6 wins and 2 defeats, the most recent of which came via KO by Shane Burgos at UFC 244. His loss prior to that, to Arnold Allen, however, was a split decision. With 3 wins via submission on Amirkhani’s record and considering his experience in wrestling, it will be clash of styles.
