Amir Aliakbari reveals the changes he's made that have massively helped him through four-match winning run
Amir Aliakbari is a fantastic example of why suffering setbacks can lead to positive outcomes in the future. In MMA, one loss doesn't have to define a fighter's career.
In fact, a loss can often result in the athlete getting better by learning from their mistakes and making changes. In his first two fights with ONE Championship after signing to the promotion in 2021, the decorated wrestler was stopped in back-to-back outings.
Following his loss to Anatoly Malykhin in September 2021, Aliakbari knew that he needed to make some adjustments if he was going to get back in the win column.
He did just that and the results speak for themselves, as he has put together four consecutive wins. This has earned him a spot at the top of the heavyweight rankings.
Ahead of his return at ONE 169, where he looks to extend the streak to five, Amir Aliakbari spoke in an interview with ONE Championship about what changes he made to inspire this turnaround:
"The return of my former coach and working with a new bodybuilding coach and joint fights with different fighters all over the world."
Aliakbari continued, speaking more about the reintroduction of his former coach:
"My coach's name is Ali Staki. I used to work with him in the past. We stopped working together for a while. After the fight with Malykhin, we started working together again."
Amir Aliakbari now looks for one more big win
Amir Aliakbari has the end goal of securing a rematch with Anatoly Malykhin so that he can get his revenge on the Russian marauder. With Malykhin set to defend his heavyweight MMA world title in the main event on Nov. 8, Aliakbari can look to make a statement by earning another win earlier on the night inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Having already beaten former world champions on this current streak, he's now out to take out a fellow top contender in submission specialist Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida.
ONE 169 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America live in U.S. primetime this Friday, Nov. 8.