Jason Knight
Age: 25
Nationality: American
MMA Record: 20-4
UFC Record: 4-3
Notable Wins: Chas Skelly, Dan Hooker
Notable Losses: Gabriel Benitez, Ricardo Lamas, Tatsuya Kawajiri
Last Fight: Decision loss to Gabriel Benitez
Fighter Profile: One of the most exciting featherweights on the roster, Knight has had an up-and-down beginning to his UFC career. he lost a decision to Tatsuya Kawajiri in his UFC debut but he bounced back nicely with four-straight wins over Jim Alers, Alex Caceres, Dan Hooker and Chas Skelly. That run led the 25-year-old to get a top-five matchup against Ricardo Lamas but it proved to be too big of a step up and he was brutally knocked out. He followed that up with a surprising decision loss to Gabriel Benitez. Knight is still young in this sport and with his combination of striking and grappling he can go far in this sport, and now it’s up to him to make the adjustments and prove he’s a top featherweight. We’ve see him at his best and we’ve seen him at his worst, and he’ll need to be at his best in order to beat Makwan Amirkhani and save his job in the UFC.
Makwan Amirkhani
Age: 29
Nationality: Finnish
MMA Record: 13-3
UFC Record: 3-1
Notable Wins: Andy Ogle, Tom Duquesnoy
Notable Losses: Arnold Allen
Last Fight: Decision loss to Arnold Allen
Fighter Profile: One of the most popular Europen fighters in the UFC, Amirkhani started off his UFC career in epic fashion when he knocked out Andy Ogle in just seven seconds. He followed that up with back-to-back wins over Masio Fullen and Mike Wilkinson and was looking like a potential breakout star at 145lbs. But a decision loss to Arnold Allen halted his momentum, and he hasn’t fought in over a year since then. He moved to Ireland to train at SBG and says his hands are improved, but that remains to be seen. We know he has a really good ground game, but does he have the complete game to make a run to the top-15 is the question. And when he takes on Jason Knight we will find out the answers to that, as a loss may make him reconsider his future in the sport.
Fight Breakdown: This should be a pretty entertaining fight between two guys with really good grappling skills. If this fight hits the ground I’m expecting some really fun back-and-forth scrambles with both guys trading positions and submission attemps, but overall I expect a bit of a wash on the mat. Where this fight is going to be the decided is on the feet. Though Amirkhani says his striking has improved, I still don’t think he’s on Knight’s level on the feet, and I think stylistically that’s where Knight will really excel in this fight. Amirkhani is a tough guy so he can probably survive to a decision but I just think Knight’s advantages in striking and with his cardio will be enough to carry him to a decision win in what should be an entertaining battle.
Prediction: Jason Knight via decision
