Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, article on Mats Nilsson (Swedish grappler and mixed martial artist), page last edited 18 October 2026(opens in a new tab)
Mats Nilsson was born on 5 December 1983 in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Where in the source: Infobox, birth line (date and place); the opening paragraph repeats the date.
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Nilsson began judo at fifteen. He won the Skåne junior class in 1999, took third at the Swedish youth championships in 2000 and third at the Swedish junior championships in 2002, and later became a judo black belt.
Where in the source: Section on his judo career, first paragraph.
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At the first Scandinavian Open in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2003 Nilsson placed second in the 210 lb division and third in the open weight class; later he won the Danish open in the 205 lb division.
Where in the source: Section on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, first paragraph.
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Nilsson received his brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Ricardo Carvalho in 2010.
Where in the source: Section on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sentence on the brown belt.
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Nilsson received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Mauro Salomao in September 2014.
Where in the source: Section on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, final sentence; infobox rank line.
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Nilsson's early submission wrestling results included first place at the Copenhagen Open in the 200 lb division, third at ADCC Germany in the 190 lb class, and at his first Swedish championships in 2009 third in his weight class and silver in the open weight.
Where in the source: Section on Submission Wrestling, first paragraph.
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Selected for the Swedish national team, Nilsson won the 2010 FILA Grappling World Championship in Kraków by beating Takanori Kudo in the final.
Where in the source: Section on Submission Wrestling, second paragraph.
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At the 2010 SportAccord Combat Games in Beijing Nilsson lost two matches by 1-0 and finished fourth; at the 2010 FILA European Championship in Gorlice, Poland he took bronze after three matches.
Where in the source: Section on Submission Wrestling, third and fourth paragraphs.
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In 2011 Nilsson won gold at the FILA Grappling Grand Prix in Martigny, Switzerland in the -90 kg class after four wins, three by submission; he then took bronze at the FILA European Championship in Ukraine with two wins and a draw, and lost the Swedish submission wrestling final to Alexander Bergman on the narrowest margin.
Where in the source: Section on Submission Wrestling, paragraphs on Martigny, Ukraine and the July 2011 Swedish championship.
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Nilsson defended his FILA world title in Belgrade on 29 September 2011, winning three matches for a second straight world championship in the -90 kg no-gi division.
Where in the source: Section on Submission Wrestling, paragraph on 29 September 2011.
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In 2012 Nilsson won a third European bronze in Brussels in the -92 kg no-gi division. On 17 November 2012 in Kraków he beat three opponents, including Zbigniew Tyszka in the final, to win a third consecutive world title; he then retired from submission wrestling to concentrate on MMA.
Where in the source: Section on Submission Wrestling, last two paragraphs; medal table.
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Nilsson began competing in the Swedish shootfighting league in 2007 and won the Swedish Shootfighting Championships the same year.
Where in the source: Section on Shootfighting.
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Nilsson made his MMA debut for Kaisho Martial Arts on 10 May 2008 with a decision win over Martin Lavin at The Zone FC 2 in Gothenburg.
Where in the source: Section on early MMA career; record table, bottom row.
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In September 2010 Nilsson lost a decision to Timo Suhonen in a bout for the Cage middleweight title in Finland. Two months later he submitted Ivan Gluhak with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
Where in the source: MMA record table, rows for Cage Challenger and The Zone FC 7; section on early MMA career.
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In February 2011 Nilsson beat Gregor Herb by unanimous decision at The Zone FC 8 in a bout between a FILA world grappling champion and the European CBJJ brown belt champion, and in 2011 he beat Nikos Sokolis by triangle choke at Strength and Honor Championship 4.
Where in the source: Section on early MMA career, paragraphs on Herb and Strength and Honor; record table.
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Nilsson's last MMA fight for Kaisho was an armbar win over Alavutdin Gadjiev in 24 seconds on 24 March 2012. His first fight for Rumble Sports of Copenhagen came on 6 May 2012, a unanimous decision loss to Tor Troéng in Gothenburg.
Where in the source: Section on Cage Warriors and other organisations, second and third paragraphs; record table.
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In 2013 Nilsson beat Chris Scott by unanimous decision in April and Denniston Sutherland by second-round TKO in September, both for Cage Warriors.
Where in the source: Record table, 2013 rows; section on Cage Warriors and other organisations.
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Nilsson signed with the UFC in December 2013 for its middleweight division. He lost his debut to Luke Barnatt by first-round TKO in London on 8 March 2014, then dropped to welterweight and lost a unanimous decision to Omari Akhmedov at UFC 182 on 3 January 2015.
Where in the source: Section on the UFC career; record table, top rows.
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Nilsson announced his retirement from MMA on 17 January 2015.
Where in the source: Section on the UFC career, final sentence.
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Nilsson began Muay Thai training in Helsingborg before his first shootfight in 2006, trained in Thailand every year, and won his first Muay Thai fight in Phuket in January 2012 by knockout in under a minute.
Where in the source: Section on Muay Thai.
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At the Swedish martial arts gala Kampsportsgalan Nilsson won Breakthrough of the Year and Champion of the Year in 2011 and Champion of the Year again in 2012; in 2013 he was nominated for the Helsingborgsmedaljen and in September 2013 won the UK MMA Awards International Fighter of the Month.
Where in the source: Section on awards, three paragraphs.
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ESPN, mixed martial arts fighter bio for Mats Nilsson(opens in a new tab)
ESPN lists Nilsson as a Swedish welterweight with a birthdate of 5 December 1983 (12/5/1983 in its notation).
Where in the source: Fighter bio page, header and biography block.
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ESPN gives Sweden as Nilsson's country.
Where in the source: Fighter bio page, country field.
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ESPN lists Rumble Sports as Nilsson's team.
Where in the source: Fighter bio page, team field.
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Helsingborgs Dagblad, report on Mats Nilsson's third FILA world title, 17 November 2012(opens in a new tab)
Helsingborgs Dagblad reported on 17 November 2012 that Nilsson secured his third consecutive world title in submission wrestling in Kraków, after fog in Kraków delayed his flight from Berlin, taken together with some other national-team members, by more than a day and left him minutes from missing the whole competition.
Where in the source: Article lead, first two paragraphs; the subscription-only remainder was not read.
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Cage Warriors press release dated 13 November 2012 (Cage Warriors 50 bout announcement), posted on Sherdog 17 November 2012(opens in a new tab)
Cage Warriors announced in November 2012 that Nilsson's second-round submission of Tommy Speer in Beirut in February 2012 earned him a five-fight contract, and described him as eighth in the European middleweight rankings.
Where in the source: Press release, the paragraph on his record and Cage Warriors debut and the paragraph after it.
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UFC.com, athlete page for Mats Nilsson(opens in a new tab)
UFC.com lists Nilsson as a retired welterweight with an 11-4-1 record, an octagon debut on 8 March 2014 and a last fight at UFC 182 on 3 January 2015; of his 11 wins, 5 came by submission, 4 by decision and 2 by KO or TKO.
Where in the source: Athlete page, status, record, debut and win-by-method blocks.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage