One of Canada’s most promising young prospects is back in action.
Vancouver’s Saeid Mirzaei (1-0-1) will take on Saskatoon’s Jose Rodriguez (7-7) in a 175-pound catchweight bout Friday night at Modern FC 3 in Saskatoon, SK.
Mirzaei, 27, said he believes he’s a far superior fighter to Rodriguez and said there’s no chance this fight makes it out of the first round.
“I am superior to him in every single category and I can beat him everywhere the fight goes. I see me being dominant in every single aspect of the game and beating him where I choose to,” said Mirzaei in an interview.
“I’m going to knock this guy out in the first round, and there’s nothing he can do to stop me.”
After a decorated amateur career, Mirzaei is coming off his first victory as a professional, a first round submission victory over American Killian Estes at Rise FC 3, who also had an impressive 10-0 amateur career.
Mirzaei said it felt great to earn his first professional win over a tough test in Estes, and was a moment he’s been working towards his whole life.
“It felt amazing. I’ve invested my whole life into this; everyone else was out partying, drinking, getting girls, and I was in the gym.”
“I was fighting grown men when I was a teenager just so I could eventually turn professional and take that first step.”
Decorated Amateur Career
Although he has just two professional bouts under his belt compared to Rodriguez’s 14, Mirzaei said he still holds the experience edge.
Mirzaei fought 19 times as an amateur, compiling an impressive 16-3 record, which included winning the gold medal in the 2015 IMMAF World Championships.
In addition to his MMA fights, Mirzaei has also fought several muay thai and kickboxing fights.
“I have more fights than him overall. I have around 27 fights,” said Mirzaei.
“The only difference now is you can knee to the head, but he’s 5-foot-10 and I’m 6-foot-2. Who’s going to knee who to the head? I have a 76-inch reach and he has 70 inches, so who’s going to be landing the elbows?”
Mirzaei is no stranger to winning titles, having won multiple championships throughout his impressive amateur career.
And despite being just two fights into his professional career, Mirzaei said he plans on claiming his first professional title before the end of 2019.
“I feel confident I can become the Modern FC champion by the end of the year. I don’t want to be the guy who talks the s**t and doesn’t back it up, but I know I can back it up,” said Mirzaei.
“I’m coming for the Modern FC title by the end of the year; I don’t know who the champ is, but I’m taking you out. I’ve seen the number one welterweight in Canada, and I’m not impressed. I’m coming for him too. And Jose, if you last more than a minute, I’ll be embarrassed and shut my mouth.”
Mirzaei’s Shoutouts
“I want to thank my main man and wrestling coach Nicholas Ugoalah, my jiu-jitsu sensei Nabil Salameh, my boxing coach Mikhail Basharymov, my muay thai coach Ken Tran, my muay thai assistant trainer Houtan Alikashani, my strength conditioning guy James Wark, and everyone at Titan MMA.” Follow Mirzaei on social media: FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM
