Makwan Amirkhani might not be such a big fan of Joe Rogan anymore.
Amirkhani knocked out Andy Ogle in just eight seconds in his UFC debut Saturday night at UFC on FOX 14 in Stockholm, Sweden. Amirkhani came out with a flying knee to start the fight and then landed a hard uppercut that seemed to put Ogle out.
With Ogle taking more punishment against the cage, referee Kevin Sataki stepped in to stop the fight. It was one of the quickest finishes in UFC history.
Rogan, though, felt Sataki should have given Ogle more time to recover. The UFC color commentator voiced his opinion on the broadcast and vigorously asked Amirkhani about it in the post-fight interview.
Amirkhani laughed it off in the post-fight press conference, saying that Ogle tried to take down the referee afterward, so of course he was done.
“It didn’t bother me,” Amirkhani said of the interrogation. “But I thought [Rogan] was a drunk, because Andy Ogle went for double leg with the referee and the referee tapped, so what should I say? [The] referee made his decision and you ask me, I said he was out.”
Amirkhani (11-2) started off the interview with Rogan by telling him how much of a fan he was and that meeting him was a “dream.” Growing up in Finland, Amirkhani said he enjoyed Rogan’s “Fear Factor” show. He asked Rogan for a hug and the comedian granted it to him.
Things only got more bizarre from there as Rogan grilled him about the stoppage.
“Put it in replay,” Amirkhani said at the time. “Look at his hand. It’s down. He’s out.”
Rogan explained himself later on Twitter.
My thoughts on a fight like @MakwanAmirkhani vs @thelittleaxe are just that I want to see a fighter have a chance to recover. (1)
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) January 25, 2015
I respect that some think the stoppage was just, and it’s likely that if it went on @MakwanAmirkhani would have KO’ed him either way. (2)
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) January 25, 2015
Referees have the 2nd toughest job in the sport next to the fighters, mine is far easier. Early calls or not, they’re trying to be safe.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) January 25, 2015
Amirkhani, 26, was asked in the post-fight press conference if he would grant Ogle a rematch. “Mr. Finland” was facetious in his response.
“C’mon man,” Amirkhani said. “Eight seconds. Do you want less than that?”
The charismatic newcomer actually stole the show on the dais. At one point, he was asked about an apparent viral video out there online of him eating an apple.
“I don’t know,” Amirkhani said. “I got like a thousand friend requests and 90 percent are from girls. They’ll send me messages, like ‘I love your smile, how you eat the apple.’ It gets like 900,000 views. It’s pretty huge for eating [an] apple.”
Don’t expect to see Amirkhani back in the Octagon soon, though. He said he’ll need some time off to train and get better. He plans on moving to Stockholm to train with Alexander Gustafsson. And before this fight, Amirkhani said all he did was work on his specialty: wrestling. This training camp was the first time he even touched striking.
As for that flying knee to start it off, Amirkhani said his coach told him not to do it, but he had a good feeling. He saw on tape that Ogle runs out to the center of the Octagon to start fights and just stops there. That’s why he went with the unorthodox technique.
Obviously, it worked.
“So, I’m a smart guy,” Amirkhani said.