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The promising 27-year-old will attempt to take another step forward in his development when he meets former two-division King of the Cage champion Bobby Green in a UFC 271 lightweight showcase on Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston. Haqparast has pieced together a 5-3 record since he joined the UFC roster in 2017. However, he finds himself on the rebound following a unanimous decision loss to Dan Hooker at UFC 266, where he was outstruck by a staggering 177-35 margin on Sept. 25.
As Haqparast approaches his critical three-round battle with Green, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. He adopted the early-bird approach to his career.
Haqparast made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 17 when he submitted to an Adrian Ruf triangle choke 3:30 into the first round of their encounter under the We Love MMA banner on Dec. 15, 2012. He went on to fight five times as a teenager, carrying a 4-1 record in those appearances.
2. He once fought as if he were on salary.
None of Haqparast’s first seven bouts made it out of the first round. Following his aforementioned loss to Ruf, he proceeded to author quick finishes against Iles Ganijev, Jiri Flajsar, Tolga Ozgun, Patrick Schwellnus, Fabrice Kindombe and Lampros Pistikos. All six bowed out in 3:36 or less.
3. Few can argue against the support system he chose.
Haqparast threw out his anchor at the famed Tristar Gym in Montreal, more than 3,500 miles away from his hometown of Hamburg, Germany. Under the direction of coach Firas Zahabi, he has trained alongside Georges St. Pierre, Rory MacDonald, Kevin Lee, Ryan Hall and a host of other accomplished mixed martial artists.
4. First impressions are not a strong suit.
The Kelvin Gastelum doppelganger stepped inside the Octagon for the first time on Oct. 21, 2017, when he lost a unanimous decision to Polish leglock aficionado Marcin Held at UFC Fight Night 118. Haqparast has compiled a 5-2 mark since, with wins over Marc Diakiese, Thibault Goti, Joaquim Silva, Alex Munoz and Rafa Garcia.
5. Elusiveness remains a selling point.
Haqparast ranks as one of the most difficult lightweights to hit cleanly in UFC history, as his 71.7% significant strike defense ties him with Myles Jury for second-best on the promotion’s all-time list at 155 pounds. Only Frankie Edgar (71.8%) has performed better in the category.