Remember that one time, when Makwan Amirkhani almost died, then almost got kidnapped?

Despite just eight seconds of octagon experience, UFC featherweight Makwan Amirkhani boasts championship-level swagger. “Mr. Finland” insists the source of his confidence is simple – based on what he’s been through, he knows he’s destined for greatness.

“When I was a kid, I was like really sick, so I don’t remember that much of my life, but when we came to Finland, everything changed,” Amirkhani told MMAjunkie.

The 26-year-old Amirkhani was born in Iraq, however his family moved to Finland, where he still calls home, when he was just 4 years olds. When pressed, Amirkhani delines to address specifics as to the reason behind his family’s migration, preferring only to admit, “There were some troubles back at home.”

But regardless of troubles in the region that may have played a role in his family’s decision, Amirkhani had already been plagued with even more pressing concerns – issues that he says almost cost him his life as an infant.

“Nobody knows,” Amirkhani admits when asked what caused his ailment. “I was so sick that my cousins and my aunties and my uncles told their kids not to go near me.

“Nobody knew what was wrong with me, but I was so sick that I didn’t eat anything. My mother and my dad, especially my dad, he wanted to keep me alive with sweets because kids, babies, they like sweets, and there is a lot of energy, so they kept me alive with the sweets.”

Just a toddler at the time, Amirkhani said doctors told his family there was simply nothing they could do. But as his parents waited for his son’s condition to change – one way or another – their problems quickly escalated.

“My dad told my mom that, ‘You should take Makwan to the doctor,'” Amirkhani recounted. “It wasn’t close, so he took me to doctors. The doctors said that, ‘There’s nothing we can do.’

“So my dad was sleeping on a hallway in the hospital. I was a baby, and he had me in his arms, and he fell aseep, and there was a few persons. My mom told me that they tried to steal me, and he woke up. I wasn’t on his arms anymore. He ran out. What luck did I have? There was my father’s friend. My mom was screaming, so they were trying to kidnap me.”

Luckily for Amirkhani and his family, the effort was thwarted, and he was quickly returned. Equally as fortunate, Amirkhani not only recovered from the mystery illness, he also turned out to be an impressive athlete, taking immediately to wrestling as his primary interest.

As he progressed up the ranks, Amirkhani said he always remembered how much he overcame to achieve success.

“I remember this when I was like 10 years old, I was training, and I came to drink water, and there was my cousin,” Amirkhani remembered. “I will never forget that moment when he told my mom that, ‘Look at Makwan now; he didn’t even have hair when he was back in Iraq. Now, he has like girls chasing him.”

Amirkhani (11-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), of course, made his UFC debut in January, needing just eight seconds to score a TKO over Andy Ogle and notching a “Performance of the Night’ bonus in the process. He’s expected to return to action in June, when he meets Masio Fullen (10-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 69 in Germany.

Living up to the initial success he achieved in his UFC debut will be no easy task, but Amirkhani insists it’s become his destiny after suffering through an few incredible challenges in his childhood.

“That’s why I say God has a mission for me,” Amirkhani said.

To hear more from Amirkhani, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 69, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.