LAS VEGAS – Makwan Amirkhani views UFC Fight Night 189 as a new beginning.
A member of the UFC roster since 2015, Amirkhani (16-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) thinks he’s finally made the changes necessary to turn a corner in his professional career. Eliminating the people and things from his preparation that were holding him back, Amirkhani deemed his fight against Kamuela Kirk (11-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC( on Saturday his “first professional fight.”
“I posted a picture on my social media, and I wrote that (this will be) the first fight of my professional career,” Amirkhani told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight media day. “This time, I actually feel like a professional fighter. All these fights before, I had a lot of people hanging around – too many distractions. I wasn’t paying that much respect to my work and to my job that I had. It was a great wake-up call after (my Edson) Barboza fight. … I can’t wait to go in there and perform.
Check out Amirkhani’s full UFC Fight Night 189 pre-fight interview in the video above.
UFC Fight Night 189 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex. The main card airs on ESPN+.