Amir Aliakbari Stands Firm On ONE Heavyweight Title Chase

ONE Fight Night 12 blessed combat sports fans around the world with a cannot-miss card as every fight, save for two, ended in either a knockout, TKO, or submission finish, and Amir Aliakbari is more than happy to be one of them.

Just ahead of the action-packed headlining fights of the show, the Iranian heavyweight faced Dustin Joynson in a battle where the 37-year-old struggled to respond to the overwhelming showcase of power and ground game that Aliakbari possessed.

After bringing the fight to the ground, Aliakbari quickly gained the dominant position in a crucifix and with one of Joynson’s arms being trapped between Aliakbari’s legs and the other being negated by his positioning, the Canadian eventually tapped out due to strikes with referee Herb Dean quickly stepping in.

The victory gave Aliakbari his first submission win under the Singapore combat sports promotion’s umbrella and he commented on his performance in the post-fight press conference – particularly his revamped boxing skills.

“I’m very happy that I won this competition. Actually, I had to practice in Iran and in Brazil and Russia [for this fight]. I’m very happy because we got the result that we were looking for. So it was a great success,” he stated.

“Fortunately, I had the chance during the previous six months [to work on] my boxing with my coach and we did great. That was the result that you saw. It was six months [of] hard work and practice and the result was today.”

During his interview inside the ring with ONE Championship commentator Mitch Chilson, Aliakbari made sure that reigning two-division titleholder Anatoly Malykhin knew that he was coming for him as he called out “Sladkiy” for a potential title match.

Malykhin, who holds the ONE heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, immediately jumped the top rope into the ring and got into a face-to-face with Aliakbari that even saw the two colossal men tussling in the corner.

Aliakbari also told the media what he and Malykhin were preoccupied about.

“He was just playing around and trying to say words that could destroy my spirit and my attitude, but he was unsuccessful. I think with the kind of, let’s say victory that I got today. I think he will be the one who will be defeated next. Clearly so, actually,” Aliakbari said.

“I will prepare myself and I know that my preparedness, my fitness and all my power, everything… I hope that I can win and get the belt finally.”