Weight Class: Light Heavyweight
Record: 4-0
Age: 25
Height: 6’6”
Born In: Norway (Represents Albania)
Training Out Of: Sarpsborg Chi Kickboxing & MMA
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 9-12
Key Wins: Nell Ariano (amateur bout)
MMA’s heavier weight classes are always in need of promising young talent, and light heavyweight prospect Arlind Berisha will try to improve to 5-0 as a pro when he meets Wesley Silva at Fight Club Rush 27 this Saturday.
25 years old as of last November, Berisha’s amateur MMA career saw him compile an 8-1 record that included winning the 2021 IMMAF Junior Light Heavyweight title, as well as light heavyweight and heavyweight belts with Cage Warriors Academy. Berisha’s lone amateur setback was a unanimous decision loss to current PFL fighter Rasul Magomedov in 2022, which stands as the only time that he’s seen the judges’ scorecards thus far.
The towering Albanian only needed 29 seconds to stop Mustafa Atrakchi in his pro debut at FCR 17 in 2023, and the following year he also scored a 53-second finish at Allstars Fight Night 7 in Sweden before he returned to FCR and defeated Leonardo Fraga with ground and pound late in the opening frame. The 25-year-old preserved his 100% first-round finishing rate as a pro when he also stopped Cemey dos Santos with strikes in his only outing of 2025 at FCR 23.
Berisha’s massive frame immediately jumps out from the moment he steps into the cage, and he’s largely dwarfed the opposition that he’s faced as a pro so far. He makes good use of those physical gifts when striking and boasts an active and diverse kicking game, using front kicks with his rear leg to stab at the head and body of his opponents while also attacking those targets with round kicks.
The 25-year-old relies heavily on his right straight and has shown good timing on his counters off the back foot. When he’s the one pressuring his opponents he relies heavily on feints to open up opportunities to land big shots, and if he drops his opposition then he’ll immediately establish top position and look to start landing vicious ground and pound with punches and elbows to force a stoppage.
Really eye-opening light heavyweight prospects can be hard to come by, and Berisha’s size and the fact that he uses those advantages effectively immediately make him a fighter worth watching. He’ll be expected to make short work of Silva this weekend and hasn’t really been tested since turning pro, so hopefully at some point soon we’ll see him challenged with a matchup like that 2022 IMMAF heavyweight bout with Magomedov, which stands as Berisha’s only pro or amateur loss after Magomedov was able to take the Albanian down and control him for most of the fight.