As one of the first successful mixed martial artists to come Sweden, Eklund is by many considered as a pioneer for Swedish MMA. In 2002, he started out his professional career fighting on the smaller European circuit, with many wins and finishes to his credit, including winning and defending the Strike and submit lightweight title in 2007. He also competed in the Russian M-1 Global organisation.
Eklund also had a few fights on the international scene, for promotions lite Shooto in Japan and Canadian Bodog Fight. As of 2007 he had racked up a record of 13-2-1, including wins over former PRIDE- and future UFC veteran David Baron, future UFC veteran Tom Niinimäki and future WEC and Bellator MMA veteran Rafael Dias, before getting the call from the UFC.
Ultimate Fighting Championshipsedit
In 2008, Eklund became the first Swede to sign with the UFC. At UFC 80, he fought against Sam Stout and lost via unanimous decision. He was given another chance and went up against Samy Schiavo at UFC 89, who he defeated by rear naked choke. In his last fight for the promotion, he was defeated via TKO by his then undefeated opponent Evan Dunham at UFC 95.
Championships and accomplishmentsedit
Mixed martial artsedit
Strike and Submit
Strike and Submit Lightweight Championship (One time; first)
eklund, fighter, eklund, born, november, 1980, stockholm, retired, swedish, lightweight, professional, mixed, martial, artist, eklund, first, swedish, fighter, compete, ultimate, fighting, championship, also, formerly, competed, global, eklundborn, 1980, novem. Per Eklund born November 12 1980 in Stockholm is a retired Swedish Lightweight professional mixed martial artist Eklund was the first Swedish fighter to compete in Ultimate Fighting Championship and also formerly competed for M 1 Global 2 Per EklundBorn 1980 11 12 November 12 1980 age 43 Stockholm SwedenNationalitySwedishHeight5 ft 10 in 1 78 m 1 Weight145 lb 66 kg 10 4 st 1 DivisionFeatherweightLightweightWelterweightReach72 0 in 183 cm Fighting out ofStockholm SwedenRankPurple belt in Brazilian Jiu JitsuYears active2002 2011 MMA 2007 Boxing Mixed martial arts recordTotal20Wins14By knockout2By submission7By decision4Unknown1Losses5By knockout3By decision2Draws1Other informationBoxing record from BoxRecMixed martial arts record from Sherdog Contents 1 Mixed martial arts career 1 1 Early career 1 2 Ultimate Fighting Championships 2 Championships and accomplishments 2 1 Mixed martial arts 3 Mixed martial arts record 4 Professional boxing record 5 References 6 External linksMixed martial arts career editEarly career edit As one of the first successful mixed martial artists to come Sweden Eklund is by many considered as a pioneer for Swedish MMA In 2002 he started out his professional career fighting on the smaller European circuit with many wins and finishes to his credit including winning and defending the Strike and submit lightweight title in 2007 He also competed in the Russian M 1 Global organisation Eklund also had a few fights on the international scene for promotions lite Shooto in Japan and Canadian Bodog Fight As of 2007 he had racked up a record of 13 2 1 including wins over former PRIDE and future UFC veteran David Baron future UFC veteran Tom Niinimaki and future WEC and Bellator MMA veteran Rafael Dias before getting the call from the UFC Ultimate Fighting Championships edit In 2008 Eklund became the first Swede to sign with the UFC At UFC 80 he fought against Sam Stout and lost via unanimous decision He was given another chance and went up against Samy Schiavo at UFC 89 who he defeated by rear naked choke In his last fight for the promotion he was defeated via TKO by his then undefeated opponent Evan Dunham at UFC 95 Championships and accomplishments editMixed martial arts edit Strike and Submit Strike and Submit Lightweight Championship One time first One successful title defense FinnFight FinnFight 6 Featherweight Tournament Winner Viking Fight Viking Fight 2 Lightweight Tournament WinnerMixed martial arts record editProfessional record breakdown 20 matches 14 wins 5 lossesBy knockout 3 3By submission 7 0By decision 4 2Draws 1Res Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location NotesLoss 14 5 1 Thomas Hytten KO punch Vision FC 2 March 19 2011 1 0 48 Karlstad SwedenLoss 14 4 1 Evan Dunham TKO punches UFC 95 February 21 2009 1 2 14 London EnglandWin 14 3 1 Samy Schiavo Submission rear naked choke UFC 89 October 18 2008 3 1 47 Birmingham EnglandLoss 13 3 1 Sam Stout Decision unanimous UFC 80 January 19 2008 3 5 00 Newcastle EnglandWin 13 2 1 Rafael Dias Decision unanimous Bodog Fight Vancouver August 25 2007 3 5 00 Vancouver British Columbia CanadaWin 12 2 1 Toni Talvitie Decision unanimous Shooto Finland Bloodbath May 12 2007 2 5 00 Vantaa FinlandWin 11 2 1 David Metcalf Submission kimura Strike and Submit 2 April 15 2007 2 3 26 Gateshead England Defended Strike and Submit Lightweight Championship Win 10 2 1 Aaron Barrow Submission kimura Strike and Submit 1 January 28 2007 1 1 19 Gateshead England Won Strike and Submit Lightweight Championship Loss 9 2 1 Tatsuya Kawajiri TKO punches Shooto Champion Carnival October 14 2006 1 4 10 Yokohama JapanWin 9 1 1 David Baron Decision unanimous European Vale Tudo 6 Ragnarok May 6 2006 3 5 00 Stockholm SwedenLoss 8 1 1 Yuri Ivlev Decision unanimous M 1 MFC Russia vs Europe April 8 2006 2 5 00 St Petersburg RussiaWin 8 0 1 Chico Martinez Submission armbar Rings Muay Thai November 20 2005 1 N A Enschede NetherlandsWin 7 0 1 Mikhail Rosokhaty Submission armbar WFCA Latvia Free Fight 2 October 24 2004 1 N A Riga LatviaWin 6 0 1 Colin Mannsur KO knees Together Productions Fight Gala September 18 2004 N A N A Netherlands 3 Draw 5 0 1 Thomas Hytten Draw Shooto Finland Cold War February 22 2003 2 5 00 Turku FinlandWin 5 0 Teemu Nurkkala TKO punches FinnFight 6 November 30 2002 1 0 35 Turku Finland Won FF 6 Featherweight Tournament Win 4 0 Tom Niinimaki TKO punches FinnFight 6 November 30 2002 1 3 53 Turku FinlandWin 3 0 Tchavdar Pavlov Submission triangle choke Viking Fight 2 The Modern Gladiators October 26 2002 1 N A Broendby Denmark Won VF 2 Lightweight Tournament Win 2 0 Karim Sorensen Submission armbar Viking Fight 2 The Modern Gladiators October 26 2002 1 N A Broendby DenmarkWin 1 0 Ilya Kudryashov Decision split M 1 MFC European Championship 2002 February 15 2002 2 5 00 St Petersburg RussiaProfessional boxing record edit1 Win 0 knockouts 1 decision 0 LossesRes Record Opponent Type Rd Time Date Location NotesWin 1 0 nbsp Lloyd Hollard MD 4 4 2007 09 28 nbsp Kungliga Tennishallen Stockholm SwedenReferences edit a b Per Eklund MMA Madness Archived from the original on November 10 2007 Retrieved 2008 10 12 Per Eklund Sweden s First to Enter the Octagon Per Eklund vann pa KO 21 September 2004 External links editProfessional MMA record for Per Eklund from Sherdog Per Eklund at UFC Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Per Eklund fighter amp oldid 1185087604, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
