Joachim Christensen
Copenhagen's Joachim Christensen won MMA titles in Sweden and Germany, reached the UFC at 37, and still competes as a black-belt masters jiu-jitsu athlete.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, article on Joachim Christensen (MMA career and record), read 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Joachim Christensen was born on 7 November 1978 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Where in the source: Infobox, Born line.
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Christensen is Danish by nationality.
Where in the source: Infobox, Nationality line.
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The infobox gives Christensen's rank as black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu; the article does not say who promoted him or when.
Where in the source: Infobox, Rank line.
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The infobox lists Arte Suave as Christensen's team, and says he fights out of Copenhagen.
Where in the source: Infobox, Team line.
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Christensen grew up in Copenhagen; during his professional fighting years he was a social worker and a soldier in the Danish army.
Where in the source: Background section.
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Before joining the UFC he fought across the European circuit and in Middle East promotions, and the article calls him Scandinavian and European C-Shooto champion.
Where in the source: Early career section.
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On 3 May 2014 at Superior Challenge 10 in Helsingborg, Sweden, Christensen won the vacant Superior Challenge light heavyweight title by split decision over Matti Makela.
Where in the source: Record table, Superior Challenge 10 row.
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On 16 May 2015 at Superior Challenge 12 in Malmö, Sweden, he defended that title by split decision against Max Nunes.
Where in the source: Record table, Superior Challenge 12 row.
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On 7 November 2015 at German MMA Championship 7 he won the GMC light heavyweight title by first-round TKO over Jonas Billstein.
Where in the source: Record table, GMC 7 row.
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The UFC signed Christensen in 2016 at age 37, and he debuted on 1 October 2016 in Portland, Oregon, losing by armbar to Henrique da Silva.
Where in the source: Ultimate Fighting Championship, 2016 passage.
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In January 2017 he knocked out Bojan Mihajlović in the third round at a UFC Fight Night in Phoenix.
Where in the source: Ultimate Fighting Championship, 2017 passage and record table.
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His other 2017 UFC fights were first-round losses: a rear-naked choke to Gadzhimurad Antigulov at UFC 211 in May, and a TKO to Dominick Reyes in June.
Where in the source: Ultimate Fighting Championship, 2017 passage and record table.
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After the UFC he fought for Absolute Championship Berkut in November 2017 and lost by first-round knockout, lost a GMC title challenge to Stephan Puetz by arm-triangle choke in March 2019, and beat Miloš Petrášek by majority decision at Oktagon 15 in November 2019.
Where in the source: Absolute Championship Berkut, GMC return and European circuit sections.
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His most recent listed fight was on 6 November 2021 in Dubai, a first-round TKO loss to Evgeny Erokhin.
Where in the source: Record table, top row.
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Arte Suave Copenhagen, competition results page listing Joachim Christensen's entries, read 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)
The Arte Suave Copenhagen results page has a section under Joachim Christensen showing a count of 97 medals above a list of 97 tournament and fight entries dated from 2003 to 2026.
Where in the source: Heading with his name; line reading "Antal medaljer 97".
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Entries with a belt label are listed at blue belt in 2003 and 2006, purple belt in 2007 and 2008, and brown belt from 2009 to 2011 (a 2011 Danish Open entry is labelled Brown/Black); in 2012 a European Open entry is labelled brown belt and a Swedish Open BJJ entry black belt, and later labelled entries are black belt.
Where in the source: His list, belt labels: Blue belt (2003, 2006), Purple Belt (2007-08), Brown Belt (2009-11), Black Belt (2012).
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For 2022 to 2026 the page lists him in black-belt masters divisions, in Ultra-Heavy and Open categories: Master 2 at Danish Open entries in 2022, Master 3 in 2023, and Master 4 at IBJJF events from 2024, while Danish Open entries in 2025 and 2026 are labelled Master 1.
Where in the source: His list, 2022-2026 entries: Master 2 / 3 / 4 and Master 1 labels.
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The page also lists a 2005 Nordic C-Shooto entry and a 2008 Adrenaline 2 light heavyweight championship among his non-BJJ entries.
Where in the source: His list: C-Shooto 2005 entry; Adrenaline 2 2008 entry marked Light Heavyweight Champion.
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Arte Suave Copenhagen, instructors page, read 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)
The Arte Suave Copenhagen instructors page lists Joachim Christensen among the club's instructors.
Where in the source: Instructor cards; the card headed with his name.
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By his own account on the club page, Christensen began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission wrestling in 2003, when an opportunity to develop his interest in ground fighting finally arose.
Where in the source: Q&A, answer on when he started: year 2003.
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He describes himself as a former elite swimmer and elite tennis player, and says the two sports gave him a strong basis for a competitive mindset.
Where in the source: Q&A, training-background answer: elite swimmer.
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He says he teaches BJJ, submission wrestling, Thai boxing and MMA, and that he trains BJJ, submission wrestling and Thai boxing daily.
Where in the source: Q&A, teaching answer: Thai boxing and MMA.
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UFC.com, athlete profile for Joachim Christensen, read 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)
The UFC website has an athlete page for Joachim Christensen in the light heavyweight division, marked as not fighting.
Where in the source: Athlete header: division and status lines.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage