Makwan Amirkhani: Most impressive thing about Mike Wilkinson is 'his girlfriend'
In the lead up to his fight this weekend, Makwan Amirkhani hasn't heard a thing his opponent Mike Wilkinson has been saying about him but he knows his opponent has been talking an awful lot.
Just recently, Wilkinson attacked Amirkhani by calling him a 'brown noser' for making a trip to Ireland to work with Straight Blast Gym, which is the home of featherweight champion Conor McGregor and his head coach John Kavanagh.
Amirkhani isn't really concerned about anything Wilkinson is saying and really he commends his upcoming opponent for trying to get some attention ahead of their fight because no one will be talking about him afterwards.
"Nothing. I swear on my mom's life I haven't heard nothing. I don't give a f--k about what he's saying," Amirkhani told FOX Sports. "I don't care what he's saying. We all know Mike will be history after Feb. 27, so what Mike needs to do is exactly what we were talking about a few minutes ago -- you need to make a name out of yourself. So people know you.
"Because after this fight, his career is done. Like Andy Ogle, he left, nobody knows him. Masio Fullen, he left, nobody knows him. The same thing will happen to this Wilkinson. I understand why he's barking, he's scared."
Judging by Amirkhani's comments, he's not too worried about what Wilkinson has to say about him ahead of the fight, but it appears he's not all that concerned about what he presents in the fight either.
Wilkinson has shown off knockout power in the past, but there's nothing he does that Amirkhani sees as a real threat once they are locked inside the Octagon together. Whether it's striking, wrestling or submissions, Amirkhani believes he holds advantages everywhere over his upcoming opponent in London.
So is there anything about Wilkinson that impresses Amirkhani?
"Yeah probably his girlfriend," Amirkhani said. "Nothing else."
Needless to say that comment will likely ruffle Wilkinson's feathers but Amirkhani doesn't really care what he's thinking about in the days leading up to their showdown.
In reality, Amirkhani would rather not say much of anything to Wilkinson before they face off in the Octagon because talk is cheap and he's all about action.
"I've been training for eight months and six months ago I said to myself I'm ready. Three months ago my coach said 'I could send you to fight this Saturday'. So I've been just waiting and waiting so when somebody talks I'm just like f--k that, let's fight," Amirkhani said. "So that's why I'm not interested in listening to what he's saying. It's just trash talk. So why should I respond to somebody?
"You know when somebody has a funeral and they put that stone up, they should already make that for Mike. I can pay for it."
Before he wrapped up his final training session in Ireland, Amirkhani consulted with Kavanagh about what he expects to see once the fight with Wilkinson is underway.
Just like his predictions for McGregor's fights, Amirkhani says Kavanagh wasn't shy when laying out his expectations for the fight with Wilkinson and from the sound of things this one will be over in a hurry.
"I said John (Kavanagh), 'how do you think my fight will go?' and he said 'you will definitely finish him in the first round and you will get the bonus'. I said thank you. That was something that I wanted to hear," Amirkhani said.
"So I'm going to finish this fight in the first round, get my bonus and call John and say I'm coming back."
