- Mats Nilsson
-
Mats Nilsson Born December 5, 1983
Helsingborg, SwedenNationality Sweden Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st) Division Middleweight Style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Submission Wrestling Fighting out of Helsingborg, Sweden Team Kaisho Martial Arts Rank brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
black belt in JudoMixed martial arts record Total 9 Wins 7 By knockout 1 By submission 3 By decision 3 Losses 1 By decision 1 Draws 1 Other information Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog last updated on: May 02, 2011 Mats Nilsson (born December 5, 1983) is a Swedish grappler and mixed martial artist. He is the two time FILA Grappling world champion in the -90 kg no-gi division[1][2] and a two time bronze medalist in FILA Grappling European Championship.[3][4] Nilsson currently holds a mixed martial arts record of 7-1-1, with seven wins, one draw and one loss.[5] He is currently fighting out of Kaisho Martial Arts, Helsingborg, Sweden.
Contents
Judo career
Nilsson started practicing Judo in his teens and this became a natural gateway to his interest for other martial arts. Nilsson's first success in Judo competition came when he secured first place in the Skåne junior class division in 1999. Nilsson's premier achievement within Judo came when he placed in third at the Swedish junior championships in 2002. He also took third place in the Swedish youth championships in 2000. Nilsson currently holds a black belt in Judo. Nilsson's Judo background can be seen in both his Submission wrestling and MMA arsenal as he utilizes Judo sweeps, throws and takedowns.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Alongside Judo, Nilsson is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner. After some years training Nilsson gained great success in the first Scandinavian Open in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2003. He placed second in the 210 lbs division and came in third in the open weight (Absolute Class). The following years resulted in many trips to the podium including a first place in the Danish Brazilian jiu-jitsu open where he competed in the 205 lbs division. Nilsson holds a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu which he received from Ricardo Carvalho in 2010.
Submission Wrestling
Prior to the Fighter Extreme 2 championship many of Nilssons training partners practiced submission wrestling. This form of competition intrigued Nilsson who started practicing the discipline. His first success came at the Copenhagen Open SW where he took first place in the 200 lbs division. This was the beginning of a successful career within submission wrestling. Three years after the initial success in Copenhagen, Nilsson took third place at ADCC- Germany in the 190 lbs weight class. In 2009 he competed in the Swedish Championships in Submission wrestling for the first time. He left the championship with two medals. He placed third in his natural 200 lbs weight class and in the open weight competition Nilsson took home the silver medal.
After these results in the Swedish Championships as well as prior success in the sport, Nilsson was selected to represent the Swedish national team in the FILA Grappling World Championships in Crakow, Poland. In Crakow Nilsson defeated Takanori Kudo in the final to become 2010 FILA World Grappling Champion.[6]
Following his win in the FILA Grappling World Championship, Nilsson was invited to Sportaccord Combat Games, which is the martial arts equivalent to the Olympic Games. The Sportaccord Combat Games were held in Beijing between August 28 and September 4, 2010. After two hard fought 1-0 losses Nilsson missed the podium and finished on fourth place.
Between September 24 and September 26 FILA's European Championship in Grappling were held in Gorlice, Poland. Nilsson fought three fights and finished in third place, ending up with a bronze medal.[7]
Nilsson participated in the FILA Grappling Grand Prix that was held between the seventh and eight may of 2011 in Martigny, Switzerland. He competed in the -90 kg weight class and after four wins, of which three was submission victories, he took home the gold medal.[8]
The next Grappling competition in Nilsson's calender was the FILA Grappling European championship which was held in Yuzhny, Ukraine in June 2011. After going 2-1 in matches, 2 wins and one draw, he ended up with his second bronze medal from European Championships.[9]
The Swedish Submission Wrestling Championship was held in July 2011. After losing the final with the closest margin possible Nilsson finished second after a loss against Alexander Bergman in the -91 kg division.[10]
The 29th of September 2011 Nilsson once again competed in the FILA World Grappling Championship this time held in Belgrade, Serbia. After his win the previous year Nilsson had chance to defend his world title. After winning three matches he once again became the World Champion of FILA Grappling winning his second consecutive world title in the -90 kg no-gi division.[11]
Shootfighting
Following his success in Submission Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, Nilsson decided to try Shootfighting. In 2007 Nilsson started competing in the Swedish Shootfighting league. Later the same year Nilsson placed first in the Swedish Shootfighting Championships. Nilsson's Shootfighting record stands at 5-1-0, five wins with a single loss. His lone loss came by decision against UFC fighter Alexander Gustafsson.
Mixed martial arts
On May 7, 2010, Nilsson competed in his fifth professional fight, this time for the organization The Cage in Finland. The name of the event was Spring Break and Nilsson secured the win with a TKO. This earned him a shot at the champion of the -84 kg division, Timo Suhonen.[12] At Cage Challenger on the 18th of September 2010 they fought for the belt. Nilsson lost the fight after three rounds on a decision. Nilsson's next challenge was on November 27 when he faced the Croatian Ivan Gluhak at The Zone FC 7 – Warriors.[13] Nilsson won in a devastating fashion when he dismantled the Croatian in one minute. The Swede won via a rear-naked-choke and soon got a new fight offer from The Zone FC. Nilsson fought Gregor Herb[14] from Germany on The Zone - Inferno.[15] The bout was highly anticipated because of the fighter's previous grappling credentials. Herb was the current European CBJJ brown belt champion and Nilsson the current FILA Grappling world champion. Nilsson won the hard fought match by decision.[16]
The 30th of March 2011 Nilsson entered Strength and Honor’s middleweight Grand Prix to determine the champion. His first match was against Greek fighter Niko Sokolis(14-1-1). After about 30 seconds Sokolis was taken down to the ground by Nilsson with a slam so hard that the particle board under the canvas broke. After taking the fight to the mat Nilsson quickly gained mounted position and could secure the triangle choke after a scramble. The Grand Prix Final is going to take place in September, the fight is for the middleweight titel.[17] The win at Strength and Honor Championship 4 was Nilsson’s seventh professional MMA win and his record now stands at 7-1-1.[18]
Awards
Nilsson was nominated in four categories when the annual Swedish Martial Arts Gala, Kampsportsgalan in Swedish, was held on the 26th of March 2011.[19] He ended up winning two categories: Breakthrough of the Year and Champion of the Year.[20]
References
- ^ http://www.fila-grappling.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/2010/Results_Cracow_NoGi.pdf
- ^ http://www.fightermag.se/nyheter/2011-09-30/mats-nilsson-forsvarade-vm-guldet
- ^ http://www.fila-grappling.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/2010/Results_Gorlice_Grappling.pdf
- ^ http://www.fila-official.com/images/FILA/resultats/2011/results_06_yuzhny_nogi.pdf
- ^ http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Mats-Nilsson-32446
- ^ http://www.fila-grappling.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/2010/Results_Cracow_NoGi.pdf
- ^ http://www.fila-grappling.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/2010/Results_Gorlice_Grappling.pdf
- ^ http://www.fila-official.com/index.php?view=article&catid=56%3Aactualite&id=715%3A1er-grand-prix-fila-a-martigny&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=100210&lang=en
- ^ http://www.fila-official.com/images/FILA/resultats/2011/results_06_yuzhny_nogi.pdf
- ^ http://www.fightermag.se/nyheter/2011-07-14/resultat-sm-i-submission-wrestling-2011
- ^ http://www.fightermag.se/nyheter/2011-09-30/mats-nilsson-forsvarade-vm-guldet
- ^ http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Timo-Suhonen-8400
- ^ http://www.fightermag.se/nyheter/2010-10-08/mats-nilsson-pa-the-zone-fc
- ^ http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Gregor-Herb-31008
- ^ http://www.fightermag.se/nyheter/2011-02-11/nilsson-vs-herb
- ^ http://thezonefc.com/results2.asp?CompetitionID=872
- ^ http://nyheter24.se/sport/kampsport24/561205-snabb-vinst-for-nilsson)
- ^ http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Mats-Nilsson-32446
- ^ http://www.kampsportsgalan2011.se/nominerade
- ^ http://mmanytt.se/kampsport/kampsportsgalan-2011-resultat/
External links
Categories:- Living people
- 1983 births
- Swedish mixed martial artists
- Middleweight mixed martial artists
- Swedish practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- Swedish judoka
- People from Helsingborg
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
