Makwan Amirkhani wants 'a--hole' Mike Wilkinson next, praises Conor McGregor

Just two fights – and less than two minutes – into his UFC career, Makwan Amirkhani has proven capable of bold predictions and bolder performances. For his next trick, he’d like to make Mike Wilkinson “wonder why he ever started in MMA.”

“I actually have a guy in my mind who I want to finish in the first round,” Amirkhani told MMAjunkie. “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.”

Wilkinson (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) scored the brutal knockout of Backstrom at October’s UFC Fight Night 53 event in Sweden. Backstrom and Amirkhani (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) train together at Sweden’s Allstars Training Center, and Amirkhani is now hoping for a little revenge.

The UFC has already announced its intentions to visit London on Feb. 27 for UFC Fight Night 83, and with Wilkinson based in England, the potential bout seems a logical booking.

Amirkhani seems ready to sign a contract today, and he’s looking to make it personal with Wilkinson.

“You can talk a lot of sh-t now after this interview,” Amirkhani said in a message intended for Wilkinson. “But inside of you, you know that you are really scared.”

To hear more from Amirkhani on the potential Wilkinson fight, as well as why he believes fighters should be thanking UFC interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor, regardless of their thoughts on his attitude, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 83, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.