Ilir Latifi
A Greco-Roman wrestler from Malmö who followed his jiu-jitsu black belt brother into MMA and spent a decade fighting in the UFC.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, Ilir Latifi article(opens in a new tab)
Ilir Latifi was born on 28 July 1983 in Malmö, Sweden.
Where in the source: Infobox, Born row
Accessed:
The article describes Latifi as a Swedish mixed martial artist who has fought in the UFC.
Where in the source: Lead paragraph, first sentence
Accessed:
Wikipedia states that in 2005 Latifi began following his older brother into MMA training because of his dissatisfaction with the repeated rule changes in wrestling.
Where in the source: Background section, paragraph on 2005
Accessed:
Latifi entered the 2005 ADCC European trials, where Alistair Overeem won his division, and did not earn a place at the 2005 ADCC championships; he skipped the 2009 trials but was invited to the 2009 ADCC Championships, where he lost in the first round to Alexandre Ribeiro on points, 2-0.
Where in the source: Background section, ADCC passage
Accessed:
The article lists a win at the 2004 ADCC European Qualifiers and an entry for the 2003 ADCC European Championships, without stating a placement for 2003.
Where in the source: Championships and accomplishments, Submission wrestling list
Accessed:
His first professional MMA bout, on 17 May 2008 for Real Pain Challenge against Blagoy Ivanov, was ruled a no contest after 55 seconds when Latifi drove Ivanov into a ring post and broke it.
Where in the source: Early career section, first paragraph
Accessed:
On 6 October 2012 at Superior Challenge 8 in Malmö, Latifi beat Jorge Oliveira on points to become the first Superior Challenge light heavyweight champion.
Where in the source: Early career section, Superior Challenge paragraph; record table
Accessed:
Latifi lost the Mousasi fight on 6 April 2013 by unanimous decision, then won in 2014 by first-round guillotine submission over Cyrille Diabaté (8 March) and by first-round knockout over Chris Dempsey (19 July).
Where in the source: UFC section; record table rows for 2013 and 2014
Accessed:
On 24 February 2018 Latifi submitted Ovince Saint Preux with a guillotine choke in the first round and received the Performance of the Night bonus; UFC.com awards ranked the finish seventh among the 2018 submissions.
Where in the source: UFC section; accomplishments list
Accessed:
On 14 October 2019 it was reported that Latifi would move up to heavyweight; he lost to Derrick Lewis in February 2020, beat Tanner Boser by split decision in June 2021 and Alexey Oleynik by unanimous decision on 1 October 2022, lost to Rodrigo Nascimento on 20 May 2023, and was then not re-signed by the UFC.
Where in the source: Heavyweight section and last paragraph of UFC section
Accessed:
On 11 December 2024 it was announced that Latifi had signed with Global Fight League.
Where in the source: Global Fight League section
Accessed:
Latifi names his brother Arben as his greatest influence; the article describes Arben as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and early Swedish MMA pioneer with European Open BJJ and Pan American titles.
Where in the source: Personal life section, passage on brother Arben
Accessed:
Sherdog, feature on Ilir Latifi, 24 May 2019(opens in a new tab)
Latifi comes from a Malmö family with many amateur wrestlers and began Greco-Roman wrestling at age six; he was 2001 Nordic junior Greco-Roman champion in the -97 kg class.
Where in the source: Section on his wrestling background
Accessed:
Sherdog says Latifi has presented himself as a role model for children growing up in difficult circumstances and was named role model of the year at the Swedish martial arts awards Kampsportsgalan in 2016.
Where in the source: Section on being a role model
Accessed:
Sherdog (2019) lists Latifi as a member of the Allstars Training Center team.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph, team member phrase
Accessed:
UFC.com, feature on Ilir Latifi by Ralph Welch, 18 Sep 2014(opens in a new tab)
UFC.com describes Latifi as moving from a strong amateur wrestling career to MMA in the footsteps of his older brother Arben, a pioneer of Scandinavian MMA.
Where in the source: Section on Rosengard and his parents, brother passage
Accessed:
Latifi recalled that his professional debut took place in Bulgaria and ended in chaos when he pushed his opponent so hard against the ropes that a ring post gave way and the ring collapsed.
Where in the source: Section on his brother, Bulgaria quote
Accessed:
In late 2012 Latifi questioned whether his career was worth it after setbacks and financial pressure; he worked as a nightclub doorman and with disadvantaged teenagers to stay afloat.
Where in the source: Sections titled Hard times and the one on early bad luck
Accessed:
UFC.com says Latifi made his UFC debut against Gegard Mousasi in Stockholm in spring 2013, stepping in at very short notice for the injured Alexander Gustafsson, and lasted the distance in a loss.
Where in the source: Section titled Out of the darkness
Accessed:
Latifi said his parents, native Albanians, arrived in Sweden in the late 1960s, that he grew up in the tough Rosengard district of Malmö, and that wrestling became his focus there.
Where in the source: Section on hard work; quotes on parents and Rosengard
Accessed:
UFC.com (2014) says Latifi's Allstars Training Center teammates praise his work in the gym, and that he prepared for the October 2014 Stockholm fight alongside Alexander Gustafsson.
Where in the source: Sections on hard work and the return to Stockholm
Accessed:
BJJEE, interview with Arben Latifi, 24 Aug 2012(opens in a new tab)
In 2012 Arben Latifi said he had become a trainer for his brother Ilir and that Ilir was among the MMA successes of the Malmö club where Arben trained; he said he received his BJJ black belt under Leonardo Vieira in 2006.
Where in the source: Interview answers on his club and on Ilir
Accessed:
Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage