Per Eklund (born November 12, 1980, in Stockholm) is a retired Swedish

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 ...

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 ...

. Eklund was the first Swedish fighter to compete in

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

and also formerly competed for

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 ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

As one of the first successful mixed martial artists to come Sweden, Eklund is by many considered as a pioneer for Swedish

MMA 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 ...

.
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

organisation. Eklund also had a few fights on the international scene, for promotions lite

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 ...

in Japan and Canadian Bodog Fight.
As of 2007 he had racked up a record of 13-2-1, including wins over former

PRIDE Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

- and future

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

veteran David Baron, future

veteran Tom Niinimäki and future WEC and

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

veteran Rafael Dias, before getting the call from the

Ultimate Fighting Championships

In 2008, Eklund became the first Swede to sign with the

.
At

UFC 80 ''UFC 80: Rapid Fire'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), that took place on January 19, 2008 at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, United Kingdom. Background The main event was originally sc ...

, he fought against Sam Stout and lost via unanimous decision.
He was given another chance and went up against Samy Schiavo at

UFC 89 ''UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 18, 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Background The event was headlined by a middleweight ...

, 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 ''UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 21, 2009, at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. Background The event was broadcast live for viewers in Europe and ...

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

*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 Winner

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, , Thomas Hytten , KO (punch) , Vision FC 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

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, 14–4–1 , Evan Dunham , TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 14–3–1 , Samy Schiavo , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:47 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–3–1 , Sam Stout , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2–1 , Rafael Dias , Decision (unanimous) , Bodog Fight: Vancouver , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 12–2–1 , Toni Talvitie , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto Finland: Bloodbath , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2–1 , David Metcalf , Submission (kimura) , Strike and Submit 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:26 ,

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2–1 , Aaron Barrow , Submission (kimura) , Strike and Submit 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:19 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2–1 ,

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 ...

, TKO (punches) , Shooto: Champion Carnival , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:10 ,

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1–1 , David Baron , Decision (unanimous) , European Vale Tudo 6 - Ragnarok , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1–1 , Yuri Ivlev , Decision (unanimous) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. Europe , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0–1 , Chico Martinez , Submission (armbar) , Rings Muay Thai , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0–1 , Mikhail Rosokhaty , Submission (armbar) , WFCA: Latvia Free Fight 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0–1 , Colin Mannsur , KO (knees) , Together Productions: Fight Gala , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Netherlands , , - , Draw , align=center, 5–0–1 , Thomas Hytten , Draw , Shooto Finland: Cold War , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, 5–0 , Teemu Nurkkala , TKO (punches) , FinnFight 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:35 ,

, Finland , Won FF 6 Featherweight Tournament. , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Tom Niinimäki , TKO (punches) , FinnFight 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:53 ,

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Tchavdar Pavlov , Submission (triangle choke) , Viking Fight 2: The Modern Gladiators , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Broendby, Denmark , Won VF 2 Lightweight Tournament. , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Karim Sorensen , Submission (armbar) , Viking Fight 2: The Modern Gladiators , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Broendby, Denmark , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ilya Kudryashov , Decision (split) , M-1 MFC: European Championship 2002 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Russia ,

Professional boxing record

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="8", 1 Win (0 knockouts, 1 decision), 0 Losses , - , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Res. , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Record , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Rd., Time , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , -align=center , Win , align=center, 1–0, , align=left, Lloyd Hollard , MD , 4 (4) , 2007-09-28 , align=left, Kungliga Tennishallen,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, align=left, , -align=center

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eklund, Per Living people 1980 births Swedish male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Swedish male boxers Swedish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Martial artists from Stockholm Featherweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century Swedish sportsmen