Nationality Finnish Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Name Anton Kuivanen | Division Lightweight Residence Thailand Reach 72 in (183 cm) | |
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Born May 1, 1984 (age 39)
Parnu, Estonia ( 1984-05-01 ) Weight 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st) Profiles | ||
Fighting out of Helsinki, Finland | ||
Cage 29 main event anton kuivanen vs sergej grecicho
Anton Kuivanen (born May 1, 1984) is an Estonian-born Finnish mixed martial artist. Kuivanen trains in GB Gym, which is located in Helsinki, Finland and he has also had training camps in American Top Team located in Coconut Creek, Florida.
Contents
- Cage 29 main event anton kuivanen vs sergej grecicho
- Anton kuivanen dokumentti
- Personal life
- Early career
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Post UFC
- Championships and accomplishments
- References
Anton kuivanen dokumentti
Personal life
Anton Kuivanen was born in Pärnu, ESSR Estonia, which is a town in modern-day Estonia. He has two brothers and their mother Valentina is Russian and their father Vladi is Finnish and Estonian. He and his brothers were athletic and active since childhood, playing football and ice hockey. He has also said that his father - who was a competitive rower himself - gave one coin for a pull-up and sometimes two coins for a run. His father wanted to support their athleticism by giving small prizes for them. He started training martial arts at the age of four with Karate. he continued combat training with Capoeira, boxing and wrestling as a youth before becoming interested later in MMA. To support his style, Kuivanen has trained Kickboxing, Muay thai and Bjj for recent years.
Early career
Kuivanen made his professional MMA debut in January 2006 in his native Finland. Over the next 6 years, he amassed a record of 16 wins and 4 losses.
In April 2011, he won the Cage Lightweight Championship and successfully defended it in October 2011.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
On January 16, 2012 it was announced that Kuivanen has signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC. He made his promotional debut on February 15, 2012 against fellow newcomer Justin Salas at UFC on Fuel TV 1. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Kuivanen fought Mitch Clarke on July 21, 2012 at UFC 149. He won the bout via split decision.
Kuivanen faced Michael Chiesa on February 23, 2013 at UFC 157. Kuivanen lost to Chiesa via rear-naked choke in the second round after doing well for the first round and defending Chiesa's attacks. He made a mistake against the cage and Chiesa - who is known for his submissions and back control - got him down and after small grappling exchange he got the choke locked and gave Anton chance to tap or go out. He was subsequently released from the promotion with a record of 1-2. Anton has stated that he will get back to the UFC someday.
Post UFC
Anton Kuivanen defended his CAGE lightweight title against Jason Pierce on May 11, 2013, winning by clear decision. His goal of getting back in the UFC took a huge step backwards when he was knocked out by Eric Reynolds in 30 seconds. The underdog landed a punch behind his ear when Kuivanen was moving in. Kuivanen lost his balance, dropped to ground and Reynolds knocked him out cold with finishing punches. Kuivanen was very sad and stated, that he had put effort to being more relaxed before and during the fight than before but it backfired and Kuivanen was too relaxed which lead into his first clean knockout loss and for his first loss in Finland since 2006. Reynolds had said after the fight that he is willing to face him in a rematch.
Kuivanen got back in the cage in November 23, 2013 when he faced Diego Gonzalez in Sweden. Kuivanen needed only 52 seconds to knock Gonzalez out. Likewise, this was his first clean knockout win. He dropped Gonzalez and he looked at the referee. When the referee let the fight go on, Kuivanen put Diego out with few more punches to get the win. He will fight some weeks after this fight in a catchweight bout. He will face Oriol Gaset in Salo, Finland. If he wins his fight against Gaset he will possibly face Reynolds in a rematch for the title and/or face former UFC fighter Reza Madadi, who called Kuivanen out after Kuivanen's fight.