Tom Duquesnoy has finally been snapped up by the UFC, according to a report from a French publication.
Arguably Europe’s most talented prospect in MMA, Duquesnoy has been on the rampage on the continent since suffering his first and only loss in 2013. After Makwan Amirkhani submitted him in just his fifth professional fight, the Frenchman racked up 10 wins and no losses with one fight ending in a No Contest.
During this time-frame, Duqeusnoy has become a two-weight world champion with BAMMA. He won the featherweight belt by defeating Teddy Violet in 2014 via second round triangle choke. He defended that title three times before moving down to bantamweight.
After knocking Damien Rooney out cold inside one round at 135 lbs, he was handed his shot against then-champion Shay Walsh. It took him just 75 seconds to knockout the Englishman and become the first fighter in the promotion’s history to simultaneously hold the featherweight and bantamweight belts. His last outing came at BAMMA 27 in Dublin, where he submitted Alan Philpott in the second round.
Tom Duquesnoy continues to shine as he submits Alan Philpott in the second round. What a performance in the #BAMMA27 main event
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 16, 2016
Amirkhani has since signed for the UFC and French outlet L’Avenir de l’Artois are reporting that ‘the Fire Kid’ has followed suit at just 23 years old. It is unknown whether he will compete at 145 or 135 lbs for the world’s largest MMA promotion, but he is expected to make his debut on April 15.
It’s worth noting that the last two-weight world champion from Europe to enter into the UFC with this much buzz surrounding them has since exploded so much into the mainstream that we didn’t even have to mention him by name to have you all thinking about him.
