Issue 093

October 2012

He’s only 22, but this 7-1 American Top Team bantamweight already has one eye on the big show

TALE OF THE TAPE

NAME: SIRWAN KAKAI

AGE: 22

STARTED: 2008

TEAM: American Top Team

DIVISION: Bantamweight

STYLE: All-round

RECORD: 7-1

How did you first find mixed martial arts?

“We moved to Sweden as refugees at a very early age and I’d always been interested in sports. I watched the first UFC online and I was really shocked at just how violent it was, but I was also very interested. I thought maybe this could be something for me and I had two friends at the time who were both athletes. One was a boxer and one was a wrestler and I thought maybe if I do this I could beat both of them.”

Beating up your friends is certainly a good reason to learn to fight. Where did you first start training? 

“I was living in a small city in Sweden and they had a gym there for beginners and I just popped in and trained a bit with them for three years. I moved to Gothenberg then and trained with GBG MMA and now I’m in the US with American Top Team.”

How old were you when you started competing?

“I started when I was 16. I fought amateur for two years then I turned pro at 18. I think it was probably a little early to turn pro but I beat some good guys as an amateur and I got offered a pro fight and took it. I was fighting amateur at an event and the guy I was fighting had 20 fights at amateur and he was also 3-0 as a pro. I beat him as an amateur and he challenged me to fight him pro and I stepped up. It was a mistake, though, because I didn’t cut weight and I didn’t really know anything about that side of it. I learned a big lesson from that loss and I was determined to move forward from it and get better.”

It clearly worked as you’ve won your last seven fights and held onto your bantamweight title at The Zone FC in Sweden. What’s next?

“Nothing official but there’s a show called Royal Arena; a Danish show that has spoken a lot about signing me so that’s something I’ll look at but nothing’s in place yet. My management and American Top Team want me to get into the UFC, which I think I’m close to, but I can’t wait for them. I made that mistake last year and when I fought at The Zone FC in Stockholm I noticed I didn’t feel as comfortable at first in the cage. I just want to fight and take good fights.”

Do you take anything, looking back at it, in the time away from competition then for a year?

“Yeah I was training hard every day and I’m constantly trying to get better. I’ve got a good European style with takedown defense, a good double-leg and striking, so it was helpful to work and get better. But now I just want to get back to competing regularly. If I get the wins, the rest will take care of itself.”