Makwan Amirkhani


Makwan Amirkhani is a Finnish mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight and featherweight division. He is most notable for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the current Ice Cage lightweight champion.

Background

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.
His background is in amateur wrestling, 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.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

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.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

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. However, Connelly withdrew in early September due to a neck injury and was replaced by Lerone Murphy. Amirkhani lost the bout via knock out with a knee after getting caught shooting for a takedown at the beginning of the second round.
Amirkhani faced Mike Grundy at UFC Fight Night 204 on 19 March 2022, in a rebooked bout after almost two years to date when they were originally set to compete. Amirkhani won the fight via a technical submission with an Anaconda choke in round one. With this win, he received the Performance of the Night award.
Amirkhani faced Jonathan Pearce on 23 July 2022, at UFC Fight Night 208. He lost the bout via TKO in the second round.
Amirkhani faced Jack Shore on 18 March 2023, at UFC 286. He lost the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
On 5 June 2023, news surfaced that Amirkhani had fought out his contract and the organization opted not to renew it.

Post-UFC career

On 12 August 2023, Amirkhani announced that he had signed a contract to fight in Oktagon MMA and expected to make his promotional debut in lightweight division during 2023. He also revealed that he will partake the promotion's upcoming million euro tournament in 2024. After getting knocked out at the beginning of the third round against Mochamed Machaev, Amirkhani announced his intention to retire from the sport.
After his loss, he expressed a desire to return to fight one last time and pleaded his fans to vote him as one of two “lucky losers”, who would then re-enter the tournament in a reserve match. Subsequently, the Kurdish Amirkhani and Turkish Attila Korkmaz got picked and were set to face each other at Oktagon 58. Amirkhani stated prior to the bout in a post on his personal Instagram page that the match between him and Korkmaz is “more important than all the fights combined” and told his Kurdish fans to fill the arena with Kurdish nationalist colours. Amirkhani lost the match after being picked up and slammed into the canvas by Korkmaz and submitted via a rear-naked choke in the third round. The aforementioned slam had caused Amirkhani to dislocate his glenohumeral joint; the rotator cuff had also punctured and required extensive surgery. After the operation, he expressed uncertainty about returning to fighting.
Later, it was announced that Amirkhani was scheduled to fight in a local Finnish promotion called Ice Cage Fighting. His bout against Fernando Flores was the main event of Ice Cage Fighting 3, which took place on 28 December 2024. He won the match by submission.
He was scheduled to fight Diego Santos on 25 January 2025 in the Czech 'Professional Muaythai League'. He missed weight and later pulled out due to flu symptoms.
He was scheduled to fight against Joni Salovaara on 3 May 2025 at Ice Cage Fighting 4. He won the match via unanimous decision.
He was scheduled to fight against Theo Kolehmainen on 6 August 2025 at Ice Cage Fighting 5, a championship bout for the lightweight belt. He won the match by submission and became the Ice Cage lightweight champion. The match was not without controversy, however, as he was accused of hooking his toes with the cage fence which is an illegal move.

Professional grappling career

Amirkhani competed in the ADCC North European Open on August 18, 2023 where he went 3-1 and won a bronze medal in the 76 kg division.

Personal life

Amirkhani is one of eight children; his brother and father both died in car accidents shortly after the family moved to Finland.
Makwan has worked as a model and was the runner-up in 2012 Mr. Finland pageant, which his nickname refers to.
Makwan and his partner have a son.
Amirkhani has acquired Finnish citizenship.

Controversies

Threats and slander

On July 12, 2021 several Finnish newspapers reported that Jethro Rostedt, a then 45 year-old Finnish real estate agent and Turku city council member, filed a criminal report against Amirkhani due to threats and slander. In a Facebook post that Amirkhani quickly deleted, he threatened Rostedt with violence and expressed disparaging comments about him and his son after he seemingly became irritated by Rostedt who shared his opinion on a gang fight involving Amirkhani’s sister and dozens of other people of foreign background that occurred in a restaurant that Rostedt owns.

Speeding

In January 2025, Amirkhani was fined 3,300€ for driving 130 km/h in a 60 km/h construction site.

Sexual violence

Amirkhan has been in court two times for sex offences, in 2006-2007 and 2014, both times acquited. In August 2025, Mira Luoti, a singer and member of Finnish pop rock band PMMP, recounted how she had experienced sexual violence during the filming of a TV show, and according to Helsingin Sanomat, Luoti was referring to a "survival show" that aired in 2017 in which she was paired with Amirkhani. Helsingin Sanomat also reported that it had been informed of an email the show's production company had sent to Luoti at the time of the incident apologising to her for experiencing "unpleasant situations on the part of ". Luoti was compensated an amount triple her initial earnings by the production company in order to "remove the issue from the agenda". After the issue became widespread, on 24 August 2025, Amirkhani shared a post on his personal Instagram account stating, "serious claims have been said about me that are not true", "I've apologised before for my negative behaviour during the filming of a TV show years ago, but I definitely deny having committed any unlawful act". On 30 August 2025, at a press conference for Ice Cage 5, Amirkhani got into a verbal altercation with Joni "Stagala" Takala, another fighter on the card, after the latter told him to raise his voice to which Amirkhani replied, "I speak in the tone of voice I want. Is that clear?", followed by "don’t you ever say anything when I'm talking again", after which Stagala said, "Did you say those same words to Mira Luoti?". Amirkhani got visibly upset, stood up and walked towards Stagala in a threatening manner and after a short reprehension sat back down in his seat.

Amateur boxing

Makwan Amirkhani has fought five times in amateur boxing. He would have had his fifth fight in December 2018 in Somero instead of January 2019, had he not refused a new replacement opponent who was an experienced and heavier boxer.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Amateur wrestling

  • Finnish Wrestling Federation
  • *2008 Finnish Nationals 66 kg Freestyle Wrestling Bronze medalist
  • *2010 Finnish Nationals 66 kg Freestyle Wrestling Silver medalist
  • *2013 Finnish Nationals 66 kg Greco-Roman Wrestling Bronze medalist
  • *2016 Finnish Nationals 74 kg Freestyle Wrestling 4th place