Makwan Amirkhani improved to 5-1 in the UFC with a slick submission of Chris Fishgold at UFC Stockholm on Saturday.
SBG Ireland team member, Makwan Amirkhani returned to the Octagon after a year off on Saturday from the Ericcson Globe Arena, in Stockholm, Sweden. Mr. Findland was hoping to improve on his 4-1 UFC record and gain some momentum to get himself into the featherweight rankings.
Amirkhani’s opponent, Chris Fishgold is a former Cage Warriors lightweight champion, who is 1-1 in the UFC. The Englishman drew the extremely talented Calvin Kattar in his organization debut — losing by first-round TKO. The 26-year-old bounced back in his sophomore bout by taking out Daniel Teymur by second-round submission last February.
They two have been trash talking ever since the bout was announced and even got into a shoving match at the weigh-ins.
Here’s the play by play when the two Europeans finally encountered each other in the Octagon.
Round 1:
Amirkhani starts the fight by running at Fishgold and throwing a flying knee, which the Englishman spun away from. They both exchanged some kicks. The action was briefly stopped when Fishgold was poked in the eye.
When the fight resumed, Fishgold opened up with kicks to the legs, body and even one to the head. One of the kicks tripped Amirkhani to the canvas but Mr. Findland jumped back to his feet.
Fishgold hit his counterpart with an overhand right. He stepped in and Amirkhani perfectly timed a double leg takedown. Fishgold scrambled looking for an ankle. He ate a few punches while rolling around for the submission.
Back in the closed guard, Mr. Finland keeps Fishgold pressed against the cage and landed a right elbow. A scramble ensued and Amirkhani jumped for a guillotine but the round came to an end.
Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 for Amirkhani
Round 2:
Amirkhani grazed Fishgold with a hook but was hit with a hard knee. The southpaw kicked Fishgold’s lead leg. A 1-2 combo landed for Amirkhani but Fishgold backed him up with two big right hands.
Fishgold was marching forward and hit Amirkhani with a right hand. Suddenly the Englishman was floored with a straight kick to the groin. When the fight resumed, Fishgold went back to kicking the legs. He was then hit with a right hand in response.
Amirkhani shot in on a double leg. Fishgold jumped for a guillotine. Mr. Finland fought the hands and popped free, but Fishgold switched to a D’Arce choke. He popped free again, and now Amirkhani was on top. Fishgold tried to scramble but Amirkhani locked in an anaconda choke. Fishgold rolled to his back and tried to spin away from his foe. Amirkhani followed after the submission and eventually Fishgold tapped out.
He’s back!
Mr. Finland got the tap! #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/91Nt4Gg3RD
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
Makwan Arimkhani def. Chris Fishgold by submission (anaconda choke), Round 2, 4:25
