Amir Aliakbari once was pushing his way up the ONE Championship ranks. However, he will no longer be chasing ONE gold. The Iranian heavyweight has been cut from the organization, as first reported by Bangkok Post.
Amir Aliakbari put together a four-bout winning streak with strong TKO finishes along the way. The wins looked to have the heavyweight nearing a possible shot at the heavyweight title. The wrestling star ousted Mauro Cerilli, Brandon Vera, Dustin Joynson, and Arjan Bhullar during the streak.
Amir Aliakbari Drops Two Fights In a Row
However, he also found resounding defeat on the global stage with two swift first-round finishes in 2021. In those outings, Amir Aliakbari was defeated by knockout each time by big heavyweight punchers. Aliakbari was put down on the canvas by Kang Ji Won and Anatoly Malykhin.
Malykhin’s knockout victory was his second on the global stage and proved he could be a threat in the heavyweight division. The Russian was propelled to an interim title shot, which he won. It was a star-making performance that led him to his first World Championship.
Amir Aliakbari Submitted by Marcus Almeida In ONE 169 Back in November
After getting on a roll, the Iranian met Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida at ONE 169. The meeting between two grapplers was a showdown to see who could implement their game onto the other. In just 3:15, “Buchecha” proved his superiority with a dominant first-round rear-naked choke submission victory against Amir Aliakbari.
The 37-year-old showed little resistance against the Brazilian’s elite grappling game. Almeida’s quick victory moved the Brazilian into the title picture as a top threat. The loss moved Amir Aliakbari’s overall ONE record to 4-3.