Makwan Amirkhani hopes quick finish of Jason Knight will set up bout with Cub Swanson

Makwan Amirkhani has his confidence back ahead of his UFC Liverpool bout with Jason Knight.

“Mr. Finland” fights for the first time in over a year at the Echo Arena, but he already has a plan that he believes will see him elevated to title status within two fights.

First, Amirkhani will have to get through Knight, and he’s already spotted some holes in his game that he thinks he can exploit.

“He’s a young dude, he’s got 20 wins, five losses and he like to use rubber guard,” said Amirkhani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “He’s pretty wild with his striking; he walks forward with his chin up.”

The SBG featherweight expects to get the job done in the first five minutes on Sunday and he thinks Cub Swanson wouldn’t last any longer than Knight if they locked horns. He plans to call for a showdown with the top-ranked featherweight if he has his hand raised in Liverpool.

“It’s a good matchup. I think when I finish this fast in the first round, I think then I can ask again to fight Cub Swanson. That’s who I want. I just feel like I can finish him too,” Amirkhani said.

“You can’t just say that you want a fighter, you have to earn the fight. I will earn my place in Liverpool. Honestly the way I can finish Jason, it’s the same thing that I could do with Cub Swanson. I don’t see any difference,” he added.

Amirkhani claimed that he is ready for a fight Max Holloway, but knows he needs to earn a fight with the champion.

“I could fight Max Holloway, but that would be too much for me to ask,” he said. “As I said, I think I need to earn my shot, so let’s take it step by step — Jason and then Cub Swanson and then whoever comes next.”

He also highlighted that it took losing in the Octagon for him to regain the confidence fight fans saw in him in his Stockholm debut back in 2015

“When I won my first, second, and third fight, I became a little bit careful. I wasn’t the confident guy that had been always. I was afraid to lose, but now that I have experienced that, I have nothing to lose anymore, so let’s go,” he said.

He added: “You will see the same guy that you saw at UFC Stockholm.”