1. Mats Nilsson was born on December 5,1983 and is a Swedish grappler and retired mixed martial artist.
37 Facts About Mats Nilsson
1. 2.
Mats Nilsson holds a black belt in both Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
3.
Mats Nilsson is currently fighting out of Rumble Sports, Copenhagen, Denmark, while representing Kaisho Martial Arts, Helsingborg, Sweden in grappling.
4.
Mats Nilsson started practicing judo at age of fifteen and this became a natural gateway to his interest for other martial arts.
5.
Mats Nilsson took third place in the Swedish youth championships in 2000.
6.
Mats Nilsson received a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Ricardo Carvalho in 2010.
7.
In September 2014 Mats Nilsson received his black belt from Mauro Salomao.
8.
Mats Nilsson represents Kaisho Martial Arts, Helsingborg, Sweden, in Grappling competitions.
9.
In Krakow Mats Nilsson defeated Takanori Kudo in the final to become 2010 FILA World Grappling Champion.
10.
Mats Nilsson fought three fights and finished in third place, ending up with a bronze medal.
11.
Mats Nilsson participated in the FILA Grappling Grand Prix that was held between the seventh and eight May 2011 in Martigny, Switzerland.
12.
The next grappling competition in Mats Nilsson's calendar was the FILA Grappling European championship which was held in Yuzhne, Ukraine in June 2011.
13.
On 29 September 2011, Mats Nilsson competed in the FILA Grappling World Championship this time held in Belgrade, Serbia.
14.
The 17 of November 2012 Mats Nilsson competed at the FILA Grappling World Championship in Krakow, Poland.
15.
Mats Nilsson won the final against top grappler Zbigniew Tyszka from Poland.
16.
In 2007 Mats Nilsson started competing in the Swedish shootfighting league.
17.
Later the same year Mats Nilsson placed first in the Swedish Shootfighting Championships.
18.
Mats Nilsson began his Mixed Martial Arts career representing Kaisho Martial Arts, a gym he had been with since the beginning of his grappling training.
19.
Mats Nilsson won his first fight via decision over Martin Lavin at The Zone FC - Showdown, May 10,2008.
20.
On May 7,2010, Mats Nilsson competed in his fifth professional fight, at The Cage: Spring Break against Mikko Koivumaki and Mats Nilsson secured a second-round TKO victory.
21.
Mats Nilsson won in devastating fashion as he submitted Gluhak in one minute via rear-naked-choke and soon got a new fight offer from The Zone FC.
22.
The 30th of March 2011 Mats Nilsson entered Strength and Honor's middleweight Grand Prix to determine the champion.
23.
On February 11,2012, Mats Nilsson defeated The Ultimate Fighter finalist Tom Speer via second round arm triangle choke at Cage Warriors Fight Night 3.
24.
On May 6,2012, Mats Nilsson fought fellow Swedish top middleweight prospect Tor Troeng on The Zone - Demolition in Gothenburg, Sweden.
25.
On February 29,2012, it became official that Mats Nilsson signed an exclusive multi-fight deal with London based MMA organisation Cage Warriors.
26.
Mats Nilsson was expected to fight Denniston Sutherland on Cage Warriors 50 which took place the 8 of December 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland, but had to withdraw due to a torn LCL.
27.
Mats Nilsson fought for the first time in almost a year when he faced British fighter Chris Scott the 13th of April 2013.
28.
Mats Nilsson dominated the fight throughout the two rounds via takedowns and ground and pound.
29.
On December 17,2013, it was announced that Mats Nilsson had signed with the UFC to fight in their middleweight division.
30.
Mats Nilsson made his UFC debut against Luke Barnatt on UFC Fight Night 37 on March 8,2014, in London.
31.
Mats Nilsson lost the fight via TKO due to strikes in the first round.
32.
Mats Nilsson faced Omari Akhmedov on January 3,2015, at UFC 182.
33.
On January 17,2015, Mats Nilsson announced his retirement from MMA competition.
34.
Mats Nilsson was nominated in four categories when the Swedish Martial Arts Gala 2011, Kampsportsgalan in Swedish, was held on 26 March 2011.
35.
Mats Nilsson ended up winning two categories: Breakthrough of the Year and Champion of the Year.
36.
Mats Nilsson was nominated in two categories at the 2012 Swedish Martial Arts Gala, Kampsportsgalan 2012, Champion of the Year and People's Award.
37.
In March 2013 Mats Nilsson got nominated for Helsingborgsmedaljen.