Akira Corassani

At 41 years old, Akira Corassani has this physical status:

Hamid Khorassani (born August 27, 1982), professionally known as Akira Corassani, is a retired Swedish-Iranian mixed martial artist who most recently competed as a Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Corassani has made a name for himself fighting mainly in Western Europe.

He was a competitor on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs.

Team Miller as a member of Team Bisping.

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Career

Corassani began training at a local MMA gym in Gothenburg, where he was living at the time. He committed his life to martial arts and just four months later, he received his first grappling tournament where he gained a silver medal. Corassani had 30 grappling matches and 12 boxing matches before his professional debut. Corassani began competing in 2007, and has travelled all around Europe to compete. He met Dion Staring, the Dutch heavyweight champion, in his first fight. Corassani had flown to Holland to see his friend but Straing's opponent had withdrawn. Corassani weighed in at 76 kilograms rather than his opponent, who weighed 102 kg. The contest was dubbed an open weight contest. Before his UFC debut, he held a record of 9-33 (1 NC) beating good names. He came from New York in 2011 and was a member of Team Renzo Gracie in New York. He joined Ricardo Almeida's MMA team in the United States, alongside Frankie Edgar, Edson Barboza, Eddie Alvarez, Corey Anderson, and Marlon Moraes.

Corassani had signed with the United FC in 2011 to compete on Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. Corassani defeated Brian Pearman in the first episode to gain access to the Ultimate Fighter zone. Corassani defeated Pearman in the first round by KO. Corassani was chosen as a member of Team Bisping, his second featherweight selection for the team (fifth overall).

Corassani was seen several times in altercations with Team Mayhem fighter Dustin Neace, from episodes three to five. In the preliminary round, the two will be paired against each other for the remainder of the match. Neace used a heel hook tackle that looked to Corassani tapped to during the first round; however, referee Herb Dean did not break the game and Corassani was released from the hold. After two rounds, Corassani defeated Neace by a majority vote. Corassani won the grand prize and progressed to the semi-finals.

In the semi-final round, Corassani was selected to face Dennis Bermudez, a Team Mayhem fighter. The match will determine who makes it to the final round of the featherweight tournament. Corassani dominated the fight with strong hitting and several knockdowns, but Corassani lost by submission (guillotine choke) in the first round. When the referee called the war to an end, Akira's memory had been shattered and he had to be told that he had lost the war.

Despite losing in the semi-final round and not winning the competition, Corassani did not win the competition, the show was still on full throttle. He would make his debut against Steven Siler on December 3, 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. However, Corassani was forced to pull out of the match after suffering an injury in preparation camp and was replaced by newcomer Josh Clopton.

Corassani was supposed to make his UFC debut against Jason Young on April 14, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 2. However, Corassani did not appear in the match due to injury.

Corassani beat Andy Ogle on a split decision at UFC on Fuel TV 5 on September 29, 2012.

After an illness sidelined Corassani for a time, a bout with Robbie Perssani, who was previously linked to UFC 156, was moved to UFC on Fuel TV 9. He was given a unanimous vote in the fight.

Corassani was supposed to face Mike Brown at UFC Fight Night 26 on August 17, 2013. However, Corassani was forced to miss the match due to an accident and was replaced by Steven Siler.

At The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale on November 30, 2013, Corassani defeated Maximo Blanco. When he had a knee and hand on the ground, Blanco landed an illegal knee to the head of Corassani early in the first round. Corassani was unable to continue, so he was awarded the victory by disqualification. Later it was discovered that the unlawful knee had broken his nose in five separate locations.

At The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale, Corassani met Dustin Poirier. In the second round, he lost the back-and-forth match via TKO. For his efforts, he was given his first Fight of the Night award.

Corassani was supposed to face Chan Sung Jung at UFC Fight Night 53 on October 4, 2014. However, Jung pulled out of the contest due to a strained shoulder. Max Holloway took over and was recalled. Corassani lost in the first round after being knocked out.

Corassani defeated Sam Sicilya on January 24, 2015 at UFC on Fox: Gustafsson vs. Johnson. In the first round, he was disqualified by KO.

Corassani resigned from MMA on his Facebook page on January 26, 2015, finishing with a 3–3 record in UFC.

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