Amir Aliakbari has been cut from ONE Championship’s roster, sources at the martial arts promotion told the Bangkok Post.
The heavyweight MMA contender last competed at November 9’s ONE 169 event, when he suffered a first-round submission defeat by Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.
Going into the clash at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, the 37-year-old Iranian had been on the verge of a title shot after reeling off four straight wins.
Aliakbari had looked much improved after going 0-2 in his first two fights in ONE, when he was knocked out by both Kang Ji Won and Anatoly Malykhin.
He finished Mauro Cerilli by second-round TKO in Singapore at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August 2022, before stopping former champion Brandon Vera in the first round in Manila four months later.
Aliakbari then submitted Dustin Joynson in less than two minutes in Bangkok in July 2023, and picked up a third round disqualification win in Qatar against Arjan Bhullar in March 2024 when the Indian-Canadian was shown a red card for timidity.
He had looked set for a rematch with former champion Malykhin, with the two getting involved in a shoving match inside the ring at Lumpinee at ONE Fight Night 24 in July 2023 after Aliakbari beat Joynson.
But the matchup never materialised, and Malykhin went on to lose the title to Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane at ONE 169.