Makwan Amirkhani wants ‘scared’ Mike Wilkinson next

Makwan Amirkhani may only be two fights into his UFC career, but he has already made a major impact in the octagon. The Finnish fighter only needed one minute and forty-nine seconds to dispose of both of his opponent’s so far in 2015 and he is ready to make a return to the cage since fighting last time in June.

Amirkhani’s next trip into the octagon will be rivalry-related as he has his sights set on fellow featherweight Mike Wilkinson. Wilkinson has a target on his back after he knocked out Amirkhani’s training partner Nicklas Backstrom and continued to strike until the referee stepped in. Amirkhani believes that it was obvious Backstrom was out cold and it wasn’t necessary for Wilkinson to keep punching his way to victory.

“I actually have a guy in my mind who I want to finish in the first round,” Amirkhani said to MMA Junkie. “I saw this picture on Instagram of this fighter. He had my training partner. He knocked out Niklas Backstrom – Mike Wilkinson…. If you look at the picture, Niklas Backstrom, he is totally out. His hands are down. And still, this guy punched him a couple of times in the face. You know when somebody is out. Even if you can see that he is out and the referee is coming between you, you don’t need to be an a–hole. You need to have a heart in your body still, even though it’s a fight.”

Amirkhani fully expects Wilkinson to angrily respond to the callout, but he believes he knows how Wilkinson truly feels: “But inside of you, you know that you are really scared.”

Is this a step in the right direction for the career of Amirkhani, or should he step it up in terms of competition? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!