[1][5] Towards his teenage years, he complemented his combat training with Capoeira, boxing and wrestling before becoming interested in mixed martial arts.
[3] Kuivanen made his professional mixed martial arts debut in January 2006 in his native Finland.
He made his promotional debut on February 15, 2012 against fellow newcomer Justin Salas at UFC on Fuel TV 1.
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.
[9][1] Anton Kuivanen defended his CAGE lightweight title against Jason Pierce on May 11, 2013, winning by clear decision.
Kuivanen lost his balance, dropped to ground and Reynolds knocked him out cold with finishing punches.
[citation needed] Kuivanen got back in the cage on November 23, 2013 when he faced Diego Gonzalez in Sweden.
[11] However, Kuivanen withdrew from the bout due to a knee injury which needed surgery and was replaced by Tom Santos.
[12] After a year of rehabilitating the knee, Kuivanen faced Dan Moret at UAE Warriors 9 on November 29, 2019.