Amir
Albazi quietly walked in without anyone noticing.
Now a Top 10 flyweight in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, the 29-year-old Baghdad native
will collide with promotional newcomer
Alessandro
Costa in a featured
UFC Fight Night 216 attraction on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas. Albazi enters the Octagon on the strength of a
four-fight winning streak. He last fought at UFC 278, where he put
away
Francisco
Figueiredo with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
Aug. 20 confrontation.
As Albazi makes final preparations for his forthcoming showdown
with Costa at 125 pounds, here are five things you might not know
about him:
1. He was something of a prodigy.
Albazi made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of
15 on Aug. 22, 2009, when he needed just 59 seconds to submit
Pavlo
Kulish with a rear-naked choke at a World Ultimate Full Contact
show. He went on to fight four times as a teenager, finishing all
four of his opponents inside two rounds.
2. Trinkets mark his ascent.
“The Prince” captured titles in the Ultimate Challenge MMA and
FightStar Championship organizations during his rise through the
regional ranks. Albazi laid claim to the vacant bantamweight crown
with a slam stoppage of
Niko Gjoka at
UCMMA 44 in September 2015, then took home the bantamweight belt
with a kimura submission of
Dino
Gambatesa at FSC 8 in December 2016.
3. He places a premium on preparation.
Albazi operates out of the powerhouse
Xtreme Couture camp in Las Vegas, which offers him access to
world-class coaches—
Dennis
Davis, Erick Nicksick and
Jake Shields,
to name but a few—and proven stablemates, from
Chris
Curtis,
Cody
Stamann and
Mads
Burnell to
Francis
Ngannou,
Julian
Erosa and
Brad
Tavares. He trained previously with the
London Shootfighters.
4. Not all of his eggs were put in one basket.
The Iraqi-born Swede graduated from the University of Roehampton in
London with a degree in sport and exercise science. Among the
school’s notable alumni: Alize Lily Mounter, who was Miss England
in 2011 and finished fourth in the Miss World pageant the same
year.
5. He racks up the frequent-flier miles.
Albazi has appeared in nine different countries during his 16-fight
career. He has competed in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Scotland,
England, Sweden, Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the
United States.