Reza Madadi (, (born June 20, 1978) is a retired Iranian-Swedish

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 ...

who competed 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. A professional mixed martial artist from 2006 to 2019, Madadi is best known for competing in the

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 ( ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Madadi started out as a wrestler at the age of 15, his

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

career saw some good results, winning the Swedish championship in 2002 and 2003 along with victories in Sweden and other parts of Scandinavia, in both the styles of

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

and Freestyle. He transitioned from wrestling to

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 2006. Madadi competed in Strike And Submit (SAS), Superior Challenge (SC), Furious Fighting Championship (FFC) and a few other fighting organizations. Madadi holds a submission victory over former UFC fighter Junie Browning in 2010, later that year he took a very impressive decision victory against former WEC- and future

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

and UFC fighter

Carlo Prater Carlo Ricardo Prater (born June 25, 1981) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist previously competing in the Welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2002, Prater has also formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, Strikefor ...

. He became the Superior Challenge Lightweight Champion in 2011, after defeating former UFC fighter

Rich Clementi Richard Thomas Clementi (born March 31, 1977) is a former American mixed martial artist. Clementi has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Bellator, K-1 Hero's DREAM, King of the Cage, and Titan FC. Background Clementi was born in ...

via unanimous decision at Superior Challenge 7. He was expected to challenge for the title in British top promotion

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under ...

, against the champion Matt Veach on June 16, 2011. However, just a few days before the fight Veach had to withdraw due to an injury and Madadi was scrapped from the card. Madadi's success on the European circuit, 11-2 (6 submissions, 2 TKO's), led to him being considered as one of the best European lightweight prospects.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In November, 2011 it was reported that Madadi had signed with the

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 ...

. He was expected to make his promotional debut against Rafaello Oliveira on January 20, 2012 at

UFC on FX 1 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 ( ...

. However, Oliveira was forced out of a bout with an injury and replaced by

Fabrício Camões Fabrício dos Santos Camões (; born December 23, 1978) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Camões's primary style in the cage is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Cam ...

Madadi himself would later withdraw from the bout due to injury as well and was replaced by promotional newcomer Tommy Hayden. In his eventual debut, Madadi faced fellow promotional newcomer Yoislandy Izquierdo on April 14, 2012 at

UFC on Fuel TV 2 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 2'' or ''UFC: Sweden'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 14, 2012, at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Back ...

. After being stunned in the first round, Madadi defeated Izquierdo by submission due to a guillotine choke in the second round. In his next fight for the UFC, Madadi faced

Cristiano Marcello Cristiano Marcello da Silva (born December 3, 1977) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and former Chute Boxe BJJ head coach who formerly fought for the UFC. Cristiano competed in the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 1998, 1 ...

on October 13, 2012 at

UFC 153 ''UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 13, 2012, at the HSBC Arena (Rio de Janeiro), HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background Vitor Belfort was expec ...

. He lost via a controversial split decision. The decision was controversial since most major MMA media outlets scored the bout for Madadi. Madadi faced Michael Johnson on April 6, 2013 at

UFC on Fuel TV 9 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 9'' or ''UFC Sweden 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 6, 2013, at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The event was broadcast live on Fuel TV. Ba ...

. After a back-and-forth two rounds, where Johnson stunned and dropped Madadi with a headkick late in the first round, Madadi recovered fast and won the fight via submission due to a d'arce choke in the third round. The win also garnered Madadi his first ''Submission of the Night'' bonus award. Madadi was expected to fight

Michael Chiesa Michael Keith Chiesa (; born December 7, 1987) is an American professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and sports analyst who currently competes in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ( ...

on July 27, 2013 at UFC on Fox 8. However, on May 14, 2013, it was announced Madadi pulled out of the bout citing alleged visa issues and was replaced by

Jorge Masvidal Jorge Luis Masvidal (born November 12, 1984) is an American professional boxer and former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions. Masvidal competed professionally for 20 years from 2003 unti ...

. Following Madadi's conviction on burglary charges, the

officially released Madadi from the promotion.

Post-UFC

After leaving the UFC following, and still awaiting his sentencing for his robbery conviction, Madadi expressed an interest to go back and fight in the Sweden-based organisation Superior Challenge, in which he held the lightweight title before he got the call from UFC. On November 23, 2013 at Superior Challenge 9, Madadi entered the cage and called out fellow former UFC-fighter

Anton Kuivanen Anton Kuivanen (born May 1, 1984) is an Estonian- Finnish mixed martial artist and coach. Kuivanen trains and teaches at the GB Gym, which is located in Helsinki, Finland and he has also had training camps in American Top Team located in Coconut ...

, who fought earlier that evening, defeating one of Madadi's training partners. He was set to return to the cage on May 3, 2014 at Superior Challenge 10, his opponent was yet to be announced. Later news came that his opponent would be Efrain Escudero and that the fight would be Madadi's first defense of his Superior Challenge Lightweight title, which he won back in 2011. However, Madadi later had to withdraw due to an injury and was replaced by Juha-Pekka Vainikainen.

UFC return

On June 10, 2015 it was announced by Madadi and his management that he was back in the UFC. Madadi faced

Norman Parke Norman Parke (born 22 December 1986) is a mixed martial artist from Northern Ireland. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Parke has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Absolute Championship Berkut, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki ...

on October 24, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 76. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. He fought

Yan Cabral Yan Cabral (born 13 May 1983 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a mixed martial artist, grappler and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt practitioner and instructor associated with the Nova União academy. A former UFC fighter, Cabral trained ...

on May 8, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 87. Madadi won the fight by TKO after connecting with an uppercut and follow up punches in round 3. Madadi was expected to face

Rustam Khabilov Rustam Mikailovich Khabilov (born 4 November 1986) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who last competed in the Welterweight division. He is a Combat Sambo World Champion and a former member of the Legion Sport Club fight team in Rostov-on-Don ...

on September 3, 2016 at

UFC Fight Night 93 ''UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 93'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 3, 2016, at Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Background After h ...

. However on July 25, Madadi pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Leandro Silva. It was later revealed that Madadi had been forced to withdraw due to a heart-related illness. The illness, called

myocarditis Myocarditis is inflammation of the cardiac muscle. Myocarditis can progress to inflammatory cardiomyopathy when there is associated ventricular remodeling and cardiac dysfunction due to chronic inflammation. Symptoms can include shortness of bre ...

, causes an inflammation in the heart muscle which can have various consequences depending on the state of the illness and the person who suffers from it. He wasn't in serious danger but would still have to be sidelined from training until doctors had figured out a solution to his problems. He was then expected to face promotional newcomer

Marc Diakiese Marc Diakiese (born 16 March 1993) is an English professional mixed martial artist who is signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) as a lightweight. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Caged Steel and BAMMA. ...

on October 8, 2016 at

UFC 204 ''UFC 204: Bisping vs. Henderson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on October 8, 2016, at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Background This was the fourth UFC event contested in Ma ...

. However, Madadi was later forced to withdraw from the contest, after suffering an eye injury that need an emergency surgery. He was replaced by Lukasz Sajewski. Madadi faced Joseph Duffy on March 18, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 107. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Shortly after his fight against Joseph Duffy, Madadi took to his Instagram page to reveal that he had one fight left on his UFC contract and that it possibly would be the last fight of his career. He expressed wishes to get his potential last fight on the upcoming UFC Fight Night 109 in his hometown of

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. Madadi got his wish fulfilled in the last minute, as he stepped in on short notice, replacing an injured

Mairbek Taisumov Mairbek Vakhaevich Taisumov (Russian: Майрбек Вахаевич Тайсумов; born August 8, 1988) is a Russian-born Austrian mixed martial artist. He fights in the lightweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2007, ...

, against Joaquim Silva on May 28, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 109. He lost fight by split decision. Subsequent to this fight, Madadi opted to not renew his contract with the UFC.

Absolute Championship Berkut and retirement

Despite contemplating retirement from MMA, Madadi signed a multi-fight contract with

Absolute Championship Berkut Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Chechen mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe. To date, most events have been ...

. On July 4, 2017 it was announced that Madadi was set to face Yusup Raisov, who vacated his ACB featherweight title and moved up to lightweight division. The fight was planned to take place in the main event at ACB 92 in Malmö, Sweden on August 25, 2018. However, on July 30, 2018 it was announced that the event would be cancelled due to ACB having financial problems. In May 2019, Madadi announced his retirement from competition, stating that he will be concentrating on coaching mixed martial arts. Madadi is still training and coaching at his long time gym Allstar Training Center in Torrevieja (Spain), along with UFC fighters such as

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Lars-Åke Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA career in ...

Ilir Latifi Ilir Latifi (born July 28, 1983) is a Swedish mixed martial artist who fights in the Heavyweight division, most recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A two-time national wrestling champion and a professional MMA competitor since 2008, ...

Jimi Manuwa Babajimi Abiola "Jimi" Manuwa (born 18 February 1980) is an American-born English retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competed in the Light heavyweight (MMA), light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. E ...

David Teymur David Teymur (born 1 May 1989) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. He has previously competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Kickboxing and Muay Thai career David and his older ...

and

Khamzat Chimaev Khamzat Khizarovich Chimaev (born 1 May 1994) is an Emirati professional mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In freestyle wrestling, Chima ...

Personal life

Madadi is married. He and his wife, Kate, have two sons. Their first child was born in 2013 and the second in 2015. In August 2012, Madadi saved a baby and father from drowning in a lake outside of his hometown of

, Sweden. Madadi acts in one of the roles in the Swedish movie ''Tommy'' (2014).

Aggravated burglary and prison sentence

On May 27, 2013, Madadi was arrested in Sweden for burglary. Swedish tabloid ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' reported that the fighter and an accomplice broke into a designer handbag store before making off with $150,000 (U.S.) worth of stolen goods. Madadi and the accomplice were apprehended and faced charges of aggravated theft and abetting larceny, according to Swedish authorities. On August 16, 2013 Madadi was found guilty for aggravated burglary and sentenced to 18 months in prison. An appeal from Madadi was filed on September 5, 2013, and he was released from custody awaiting notice from the Swedish court of law. In the second trial, he was again found guilty, and no attempt for a second appeal was made. In March, 2015 after serving the active time of 14 months, the sentence was completed and Madadi was released from prison.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed Martial Arts

** Submission of the Night (One time) vs. Michael Johnson **UFC.com Awards ***2013: Ranked #9 Upset of the Year *Superior Challenge **Superior Challenge Lightweight Championship (One time; First) *X-Fight FC **X-Fight FC Welterweight Championship (One time; First) *Nordic MMA Awards - MMAviking.com **2016 Comeback Fighter of the Year

Submission Wrestling

*Swedish Submission Wrestling Federation **2010 Swedish National Championship (-79 kg / 174 lbs) **2010 Eskilstuna Submission Wrestling Tournament Winner (-75 kg / 165 lbs)

Amateur wrestling

*Swedish Wrestling Federation **2002 Swedish National Championship, Freestyle (-69 kg)http://www.swedewrestling.se/Forbund/Statistikhistorik/#Alla SM-vinnare **2003 Swedish National Championship, Freestyle (-69 kg)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 14–6 , Joaquim Silva , Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–5 ,

Joe Duffy Joseph Duffy (born 27 January 1956) is an Irish people, Irish radio and TV presenter employed by RTÉ. One of the public service broadcaster's highest-earning stars, he is the current presenter of ''Liveline'', an interview and phone-in chat s ...

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 ...

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Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

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, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Andy Walker , TKO (punches) , Superior Challenge 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:11 ,

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Raymond Jarman , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Superior Challenge 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Oriol Gaset , Submission (guillotine choke) , Furious Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 ,

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, Morocco , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 , Peter Irving , Decision (unanimous) , Strike and Submit 7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, 5–1 , Aidan Marron , Decision (unanimous) , Superior Challenge 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Peter Wilson , Submission (armbar) , X-Fight FC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

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Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer fro ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Geroid McNichol , Submission (armbar) , Strike and Submit 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:28 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Christian Johansson , TKO (punches) , Travelfight Arena 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:30 ,

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

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Grappling record

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madadi, Reza 1978 births Living people Swedish male mixed martial artists Iranian male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Swedish male sport wrestlers Swedish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Iranian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Martial artists from Stockholm Iranian emigrants to Sweden Sportspeople of Iranian descent 21st-century Swedish criminals Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Iranian refugees Sportspeople convicted of crimes