Akira Corassani facts for kids

Hamid Khorassani (Persian: حمید خراسانی), known professionally as Akira Corassani, is a former professional mixed martial artist from Sweden. He was born on August 27, 1982. Akira competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

He started his professional MMA career in 2007. Akira became well-known for fighting in Western Europe. He was also a contestant on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. On the show, he was part of Team Bisping.

Akira Corassani's Early Life and Training

Akira Corassani was born in Lund, a city in southern Sweden. His parents moved to Sweden from Iran around 1976. He started learning martial arts when he was six years old. For one year, he practiced Shotokan Karate. After that, he switched to Tae Kwon Do.

While training in Tae Kwon Do, he also played football for his hometown team. Akira was very good at Tae Kwon Do and quickly earned his black belt at age 14. Soon after, he stopped Tae Kwon Do to focus on football. He played in the highest youth football league in Sweden.

When he was 22, Akira returned to martial arts. He began training in MMA. Akira comes from a family where everyone studies a lot. He has four brothers and sisters, and they are all doctors. Akira is also a vegan. He can speak seven different languages: Swedish, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Persian, Azeri, and Turkish.

Career

Starting His MMA Journey

In 2005, Akira Corassani started training at an MMA gym in Gothenburg, where he lived. He decided to dedicate his life to martial arts. Just four months later, he competed in his first grappling tournament and won a silver medal. Before becoming a professional fighter, Akira had 30 grappling matches and 12 boxing fights.

He started fighting professionally in 2007. He traveled all over Europe to compete. In his very first professional fight, he faced Dion Staring, a Dutch heavyweight fighter. Akira had gone to Holland to help a friend, but he heard that Staring's opponent had dropped out. Akira stepped in, even though he weighed 76 kg and Staring weighed 102 kg. This fight was called an "open weight" fight.

Before joining the UFC, Akira built a strong record of 9 wins and 3 losses. He beat some good fighters during this time. In 2011, he moved to New York. There, he joined the Renzo Gracie MMA team. He trained with famous fighters like Frankie Edgar and Edson Barboza.

Fighting on The Ultimate Fighter

In 2011, Akira Corassani signed with the UFC to compete on the TV show The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. In the first episode, Akira fought Brian Pearman to earn a spot in the Ultimate Fighter house. Akira won by knockout (KO) in the first round. He was then chosen to be part of Team Bisping. He was the second featherweight fighter picked for the team.

During the show, Akira had some disagreements with Dustin Neace from Team Mayhem. Later, they were set to fight each other. In their fight, Dustin Neace tried a move called a heel hook. It looked like Akira might have given up, but the referee did not stop the fight. Akira managed to escape the hold. Akira then won the fight by a majority decision after two rounds. This win moved him into the semi-finals.

Akira was chosen to fight Dennis Bermudez from Team Mayhem in the semi-finals. The winner would go to the final round of the featherweight tournament. Akira landed many good punches and even knocked Dennis down a few times. However, Akira lost the fight by submission in the first round. When the referee stopped the fight, Akira had lost consciousness. He had to be told that he had lost.

Akira's Time in the UFC

Even though Akira Corassani lost in the semi-finals of The Ultimate Fighter, he still signed a special deal with the UFC. His first UFC fight was planned for December 3, 2011, against Steven Siler. But Akira got injured during training and had to pull out of the fight.

He was then expected to make his UFC debut in Sweden against Jason Young on April 14, 2012. However, Akira got injured again and had to withdraw.

Akira finally won his UFC debut fight. He beat Andy Ogle by a split decision on September 29, 2012. This fight was at UFC on Fuel TV 5.

His next fight was against Robbie Peralta on April 6, 2013. Akira had been sick, but he recovered and won the fight by unanimous decision.

Akira was supposed to fight Mike Brown on August 17, 2013. But he got injured again and was replaced by Steven Siler.

Akira Corassani faced Maximo Blanco on November 30, 2013. Early in the first round, Blanco hit Akira with an illegal knee to the head. Akira had one knee and a hand on the ground, which means he was considered a "downed" opponent. Akira was unable to continue fighting. Because of the illegal move, Akira was given the win by disqualification (DQ). It was later found that the illegal knee had broken his nose in five different places.

Akira then fought Dustin Poirier on April 16, 2014. It was a very exciting fight with lots of action. Akira lost the fight by TKO (technical knockout) in the second round. For his great effort in this fight, he received his first Fight of the Night bonus award.

Akira was scheduled to fight Chan Sung Jung on October 4, 2014. But Jung got a shoulder injury and was replaced by Max Holloway. Akira lost this fight by knockout (KO) in the first round.

His last fight was against Sam Sicilia on January 24, 2015. He lost this fight by KO in the first round.

On January 26, 2015, Akira Corassani announced that he was retiring from MMA. He finished his UFC career with a record of 3 wins and 3 losses.

Championships and accomplishments

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Dustin Poirier
• MMAJunkie.com
  • 2014 April Fight of the Month vs. Dustin Poirier

Mixed martial arts record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

Amateur mixed martial arts record