Jani Lax (born October 26, 1977) is a Swedish professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

and occasional

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

, who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division. He has fought around the world in a number of promotions including Finnfight,

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with oth ...

and

Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission (ISC). Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 1989 as a ...

Career

Lax began his

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

career in 1999 with Finnfight, one of the largest promotions in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

and known for its brutal no-holds-barred rules. He lost his debut against Marcus Peltonen by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

in the first round, but went on to defeat Joachim Hansen in his next bout. After Finnfight, he fought in

in Russia, where he had one win and one loss. He then went to Japan to fight with

, where his promotional debut came against

Akira Kikuchi is a Japanese retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and a former List of Shooto Champions, Shooto Welterweight (76 kg) Champion. He trained alongside Norifumi Yamamoto, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto with the ''Killer Bee'' team. Career Afte ...

. Kikuchi was able to submit him in the first round. After this loss, he had a four-fight winning streak spanning across Europe and Japan. It was halted, however, when he came up against

Tatsuya Kawajiri is a Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division. He is a former List of Shooto champions#Lightweight Championship, Shooto Lightweight Champion, and has also competed in the Ult ...

in April 2005. He also lost his next two bouts, against

Hiroyuki Takaya Hiroyuki Takaya (Japanese: 高谷裕之, ''Takaya Hiroyuki'', born June 10, 1977) is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Takaya has fought in the WEC, Strikeforc ...

and Alexandre Izidro. In May 2010, he returned to the ring for the first time in almost three years and submitted Danny van Bergen at an M-1 Global event in Helsinki. His next bout was scheduled to be in the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts promotion against Rob Sinclair for the BAMMA Lightweight Championship at '' BAMMA 4: Reid vs. Watson'' on September 25, 2010. However, just three days before the fight, Lax withdrew with an injury.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 10–8 , Bobby McVittie , KO (punches) , Vision FC - Fight Night 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:59 ,

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–8 , Kenichiro Togashi , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Shooto: The Way of Shooto 4: Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:30 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–7 , Danny van Bergen , Submission (armbar) , M-1 Selection 2010: Western Europe Round 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:40 ,

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–7 , Takashi Nakakura , Submission (achilles lock) , Shooto: Back To Our Roots 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:54 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–6 , John Mahlow , Decision (split) , Ironheart Crown 11: Apocalypse , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–6 , Alexandre Izidro , Submission (guillotine choke) , CWFC: Strike Force 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:58 ,

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–5 ,

, TKO (punch) , K-1 Hero's 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:56 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–4 ,

, TKO (punches) , Shooto: 4/23 in Hakata Star Lanes , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:42 ,

Hakata is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3 , Metin Yakut , Submission (armbar) , G-Shooto: G-Shooto 02 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:28 ,

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Kohei Yasumi , Submission (guillotine choke) , Shooto: Wanna Shooto 2004 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:25 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–3 , Oliver Ellis , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Shooto Sweden: Initial Collision , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:24 ,

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 4–3 , Mikael Lähdesmäki , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto Finland: Capital Punishment 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–3 ,

, Submission (kimura) , Shooto - Wanna Shooto 2002 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:51 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–2 , Musail Allaudinov , Submission (rear-naked choke) , M-1 MFC - European Championship 2002 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–2 , Sergei Bytchkov , TKO (punches) , M-1 MFC - Russia vs. the World 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Toni Stenman , KO , Finnfight 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:37 ,

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Joachim Hansen , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Finnfight 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:25 ,

, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Marcus Peltonen , KO (headkick) , Finnfight 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:58 ,

, Finland ,

Kickboxing record

''Legend'':

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lax, Jani 1977 births Living people Swedish male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing shootboxing Swedish male kickboxers Middleweight kickboxers People from Gävle Sportspeople from Gävleborg County