Mats Nilsson

Mats Nilsson (born December 5, 1983) is a Swedish grappler and retired mixed martial artist. Nilsson formerly competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the three time FILA Grappling world champion in the -90 kg no-gi and -92 kg no-gi division and a two-time bronze medalist in FILA Grappling European Championship. Nilsson holds a black belt in both Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He is currently fighting out of Rumble Sports, Copenhagen, Denmark, while representing Kaisho Martial Arts, Helsingborg, Sweden in Grappling.

Nilsson started practicing Judo at age of fifteen and this became a natural gateway to his interest for other martial arts. Nilsson's first success in Judo competition came when he secured first place in the Skåne junior class division in 1999. Nilsson's premier achievement within Judo came when he placed in third at the Swedish junior championships in 2002. He also took third place in the Swedish youth championships in 2000. Nilsson currently holds a black belt in Judo. Nilsson's Judo background can be seen in both his Submission wrestling and MMA arsenal as he utilizes Judo sweeps, throws and takedowns.

Alongside Judo, Nilsson is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner. After some years training Nilsson gained great success in the first Scandinavian Open in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2003. He placed second in the 210 lbs division and came in third in the open weight (Absolute Class). The following years resulted in many trips to the podium including a first place in the Danish Brazilian jiu-jitsu open where he competed in the 205 lbs division. Nilsson received a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from Ricardo Carvalho in 2010. In September 2014 Nilsson received his black belt from Mauro Salomao.

Nilsson represents Kaisho Martial Arts, Helsingborg, Sweden, in Grappling competitions. Prior to the Fighter Extreme 2 championship many of Nilssons training partners practiced submission wrestling. This form of competition intrigued Nilsson who started practicing the discipline. His first success came at the Copenhagen Open SW where he took first place in the 200 lbs division. This was the beginning of a successful career within submission wrestling. Three years after the initial success in Copenhagen, Nilsson took third place at ADCC- Germany in the 190 lbs weight class. In 2009 he competed in the Swedish Championships in Submission wrestling for the first time. He left the championship with two medals. He placed third in his natural 200 lbs weight class and in the open weight competition Nilsson took home the silver medal.

After these results in the Swedish Championships as well as prior success in the sport, Nilsson was selected to represent the Swedish national team in the FILA Grappling World Championships in Crakow, Poland. In Crakow Nilsson defeated Takanori Kudo in the final to become 2010 FILA World Grappling Champion.

Following his win in the FILA Grappling World Championship, Nilsson was invited to Sportaccord Combat Games, which is the martial arts equivalent to the Olympic Games. The Sportaccord Combat Games were held in Beijing between August 28 and September 4, 2010. After two hard fought 1-0 losses Nilsson missed the podium and finished on fourth place.

Between September 24 and September 26 FILA's European Championship in Grappling were held in Gorlice, Poland. Nilsson fought three fights and finished in third place, ending up with a bronze medal.

Nilsson participated in the FILA Grappling Grand Prix that was held between the seventh and eight May 2011 in Martigny, Switzerland. He competed in the -90 kg weight class and after four wins, of which three was submission victories, he took home the gold medal.

The next Grappling competition in Nilsson's calendar was the FILA Grappling European championship which was held in Yuzhny, Ukraine in June 2011. After going 2-1 in matches, 2 wins and one draw, he ended up with his second bronze medal from European Championships.

The Swedish Submission Wrestling Championship was held in July 2011. After losing the final with the closest margin possible Nilsson finished second after a loss against Alexander Bergman in the -91 kg division.

On 29 September 2011, Nilsson once again competed in the FILA Grappling World Championship this time held in Belgrade, Serbia. After his win the previous year Nilsson had chance to defend his world title. After winning three matches he once again became the World Champion of FILA Grappling winning his second consecutive world title in the -90 kg no-gi division.

On the 28 of July 2012 Nilsson won hos third bronze at the FILA Grappling European Championship that took place in Brussels, Belgium, now in the -92 kg no-gi division.

The 17 of November 2012 Nilsson competed at the FILA Grappling World Championship in Crakow, Poland. After beating three opponents he was crowned the World Champion a third consecutive time. Nilsson won the final against top grappler Zbigniew Tyszka from Poland. Nilsson did not lose a single point during tournament. After the win, Nilsson announced his retirement from Submission Wrestling with the reason that he wanted to focus more on his MMA career and his family.

Following his success in Submission Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo, Nilsson decided to try Shootfighting. In 2007 Nilsson started competing in the Swedish Shootfighting league. Later the same year Nilsson placed first in the Swedish Shootfighting Championships. Nilsson's Shootfighting record stands at 6-0-0, with a win by decision against UFC fighter Alexander Gustafsson.

Early career

Nilsson began his Mixed Martial Arts career representing Kaisho Martial Arts, a gym he had been with since the beginning of his grappling training. He won his first fight via decision over Martin Lavin at The Zone FC - Showdown, May 10, 2008.

On May 7, 2010, Nilsson competed in his fifth professional fight, at The Cage: Spring Break against Mikko Koivumaki and Nilsson secured a second-round TKO victory. This earned him a shot at the champion of the -84 kg division, Timo Suhonen. At Cage Challenger on 18 September 2010 they fought for the belt. Nilsson lost the fight after three rounds by decision. Nilsson's next challenge was on November 27 when he faced Croatian Ivan Gluhak at The Zone FC 7 – Warriors. Nilsson won in devastating fashion as he submitted Gluhak in one minute via rear-naked-choke and soon got a new fight offer from The Zone FC. Nilsson fought Gregor Herb at The Zone - Inferno. The bout was highly anticipated because of the fighter's previous grappling credentials. Herb was the current European CBJJ brown belt champion and Nilsson the current FILA Grappling world champion. Nilsson won the hard fought match by decision.

The 30th of March 2011 Nilsson entered Strength and Honor’s middleweight Grand Prix to determine the champion. His first match was against Greek fighter Niko Sokolis (7-1). 30 seconds into the bout Sokolis was taken down to the ground by Nilsson with a slam so hard that the particle board under the canvas broke. After taking the fight to the mat Nilsson quickly mounted his opponent and secured a triangle choke for the tapout after a scramble. The Grand Prix Final was going to take place in September 2011 but it never materialized.

Cage Warriors and other organisations

On February 11, 2012, Nilsson defeated The Ultimate Fighter finalist Tom Speer via second round arm triangle choke at Cage Warriors Fight Night 3.

Nilsson's next fight was against Russian fighter Alavutdin Gadjiev in Strength & Honor Championship 5 which took place March 24 in Genève, Switzerland. Nilsson won via armbar 0:24 in the first round. This was his last fight representing Kaisho Martial Arts in MMA.

On May 6, 2012, Nilsson fought fellow Swedish top middleweight prospect Tor Troéng on The Zone - Demolition in Gothenburg, Sweden. This was the first fight Nilsson represented Rumble Sports, Copenhagen. The Troeng vs Nilsson fight was named in Sherdog's "10 May Tussles Worth Watching". After three rounds Nilsson lost a unanimous decision.

On February 29, 2012, it became official that Nilsson signed an exclusive multi-fight deal with London based MMA organisation Cage Warriors. The contract begun after his fight at The Zone Fighting Championship - Demolition. Nilsson was expected to fight Denniston Sutherland on Cage Warriors 50 which took place the 8 of December 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland, but had too withdraw due to a torn LCL.

Nilsson fought for the first time in almost a year when he faced British fighter Chris Scott the 13th of April 2013. After three rounds Nilsson took home the decision victory.

On September 14 Nilsson fought Denniston Sutherland and took home the TKO win in the second round. Nilsson dominated the fight throughout the two rounds via takedowns and ground and pound.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On December 17, 2013, it was announced that Nilsson had signed with the UFC to fight in their middleweight division. Nilsson made his UFC debut against Luke Barnatt on UFC Fight Night 37 on March 8, 2014 in London. He lost the fight via TKO due to strikes in the first round.

For his next fight, Nilsson dropped down to welterweight. He faced Omari Akhmedov on January 3, 2015 at UFC 182. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

On January 17, 2015, Nilsson announced his retirement from MMA competition.

Before Nilsson’s first Shootfighting fight 2006, he started training Muay Thai at Helsingborgs Muay Thai. Every year he spends some time in Thailand to improve his Muay Thai. In January 2012 he fought his first fight in the discipline in Phuket, Thailand, and won by knockout under the minute.

Nilsson was nominated in four categories when the Swedish Martial Arts Gala 2011, Kampsportsgalan in Swedish, was held on 26 March 2011. He ended up winning two categories: Breakthrough of the Year and Champion of the Year. Nilsson was nominated in two categories at the 2012 Swedish Martial Arts Gala, Kampsportsgalan 2012, Champion of the Year and People's Award. For the second year in a row he won the Champion of the Year award.

In March 2013 Nilsson got nominated for Helsingborgsmedaljen(The Medal of Helsingborg). Former recipients include Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Henrik Larsson.

On the monthly UK MMA Awards Nilsson won the International Fighter of the Month in September 2013.