Niklas Bäckström (fighter)

Niklas Bäckström

Niklas Bäckström at Allstars Training Center
Born (1989-08-22) 22 August 1989
Luleå, Sweden
Other names Nefarious, Normal, Golden Boy
Nationality Swedish
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 145 lb (66 kg; 10 st 5 lb)
Division Featherweight (2009-present)
Lightweight (2016)
Reach 73.0 in (185 cm)[1]
Style Kickboxing, Boxing, Submission Wrestling
Fighting out of Stockholm, Sweden
Team Allstars Training Center
Hilti NHB
Rank Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active 2009–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total 14
Wins 11
By knockout 4
By submission 4
By decision 3
Losses 2
By knockout 1
By decision 1
No contests 1
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Niklas Bäckström (Swedish: [ˈnɪkːlas ²bɛkːstrœm]; born August 22, 1989) is a Swedish mixed martial arts fighter who competed in the Featherweight division, recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Biography

Bäckström began training Jujutsu at the age of 10. At 14 he also began Boxing and Wrestling in his hometown Luleå. After high school he moved to Stockholm and took up Mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Bäckström started his martial arts career as a competitor in Submission wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He was awarded his BJJ purple belt after winning a Swedish tournament in 2008, he also competed in Shootfighting with a record of 2-0, before starting his professional MMA career in 2009.[2]

After staying undefeated following his first three professional bouts, Bäckström signed with the British promotion Cage Warriors. He made his promotional debut against Adam Edwards, on April 24, 2011 at CWFC 41, he won the fight by unanimous decision.[3] He was later expected to face top Irish prospect and future UFC fighter Conor McGregor on September 8, 2011 at CWFC: Fight Night 2.[4] However, Bäckström was forced out of the bout with a broken hand, and was replaced by Aron Jahnsen.[5]

Bäckström then continued to fight on the European circuit and by 2014 he had racked up a record of 7-0 1 NC, with 4 victories by TKO and 1 by submission, including a unanimous decision win over Sergej Grecicho and a 15-second TKO over Max Coga, before getting the call from the UFC.[6][7]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On May 15, 2014 it was revealed that Bäckström had signed a contract with the UFC.[8]

He made his debut on short notice, replacing an injured Thiago Tavares against Tom Niinimäki on May 31, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 41.[9] Despite coming in as a slight underdog, Bäckström won the fight by submission in the first round.[10] He was also awarded a Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts.[11][12]

Bäckström faced Mike Wilkinson on October 4, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 53.[13] He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.[14]

Bäckström faced Noad Lahat on June 20, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 69[15] He lost the back and forth fight by majority decision (28-28, 28-29, 28-29).[16] However, on the MMA media scorecards, most had scored the fight a draw, with Bäckström winning round one and three 10-9 and losing round two 10-8, making the score 28-28.[17]

In late August, 2015 it was announced, surprisingly to some, that Bäckström had been released from the promotion.[18]

Post-UFC; Independent promotions

In his first fight since his UFC stint, Bäckström fought Bulgarian veteran Georgi Stoyanov on November 28, 2015 in the headliner at the Battle of Botnia 2015-event, close to his hometown in North Sweden.[19] He won the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in the first round.[20][21]

Since his BAMMA-debut was postponed (see below), Bäckström instead took a short notice fight against Danijel Kokora on June 4, 2016 at Scandinavian Fight Nights 1. The bout was contested at lightweight, with Bäckström moving up and Kokora moving down in weight.[22] He won the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in the first round.[23][24]

Bäckström is expected to face Joni Salovaara on November 26, 2016 in the headliner at Cage 37.[25]

BAMMA

On April 11, 2016 it was revealed that Bäckström had signed with British promotion BAMMA.[26] He was expected to make his promotional debut on June 4, 2016 at BAMMA 26.[27] No opponent was announced.[28] He is now set to face Attila Korkmaz at the same event which has been postponed to September 10, 2016.[29] However, the matchup would later be scrapped from the card altogether. Following the postponing of his first two bookings, he instead fought for other promotions during that timeframe (see above).

Bäckströms promotional debut is now set to be against Brian Moore on December 16, 2016 at BAMMA 27 which will be a card co-promoted by BAMMA and Bellator.[30][31]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed Martial Arts

Submission Wrestling

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 11-2 (1) Joni Salovaara Decision (unanimous) Cage 37: Bäckström vs. Salovaara November 26, 2016 3 5:00 Helsinki, Finland
Win 10-2 (1) Danijel Kokora Submission (rear-naked choke) Scandinavian Fight Nights 1 June 4, 2016 1 N/A Solna, Sweden Lightweight bout.
Win 9-2 (1) Georgi Stoyanov Submission (rear-naked choke) Battle of Botnia 2015 November 28, 2015 1 4:15 Umeå, Sweden
Loss 8–2 (1) Noad Lahat Decision (majority) UFC Fight Night: Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne June 20, 2015 3 5:00 Berlin, Germany
Loss 8–1 (1) Mike Wilkinson KO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Story October 4, 2014 1 1:19 Stockholm, Sweden
Win 8–0 (1) Tom Niinimaki Submission (bulldog choke) UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Mousasi May 31, 2014 1 4:15 Berlin, Germany Performance of the Night.
Win 7–0 (1) Max Coga TKO (front kick and punches) Europa MMA: Coga vs. Bäckström March 22, 2014 1 0:15 Brentwood, England
Win 6–0 (1) Jaakko Vayrynen TKO (knee and punches) Lappeenranta Fight Night 9 October 19, 2013 2 0:58 Kuopio, Finland
Win 5–0 (1) Thomas Hytten TKO (punches) Vision FC Fight Night 1 May 5, 2012 2 N/A Karlstad, Sweden
Win 4–0 (1) Sergej Grecicho Decision (unanimous) Botnia Punishment 11 March 23, 2012 3 5:00 Seinäjoki, Finland
Win 3–0 (1) Adam Edwards Decision (unanimous) Cage Warriors: 41 April 24, 2011 3 5:00 London, England
NC 2–0 (1) Elias Kunnas No Contest Artic Fight 3 March 19, 2011 1 N/A Rovaniemi, Finland Bout ruled a No Contest in round 1 for undisclosed reasons.
Win 2–0 Simon Sköld TKO (punches) Superior Challenge 6 October 29, 2010 3 3:23 Stockholm, Sweden
Win 1–0 Gabriel Mboge Nesje Submission (rear-naked choke) Superior Challenge 4 October 31, 2009 1 2:30 Stockholm, Sweden

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fight Card - UFC Fight Night Jedrzejczyk vs. Penne". UFC.com. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  2. ↑ http://mmaisverige.se/2013/11/05/veckans-varsting-niklas-backstrom/
  3. ↑ "Undefeated Niklas Bäckström claims victory at Cage Warriors 41". mmaviking.com. 2011-04-28.
  4. ↑ http://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/bouts/cage-warriors-fight-night-2-conor-notorious-mcgregor-vs-niklas-backstrom
  5. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström off of Cage Warriors FN 2 card, Aron Jahnsen steps in". mmaviking.com. 2011-09-05.
  6. ↑ "UFC Ready Viking #7: Niklas Bäckström". mmaviking.com. 2013-02-02.
  7. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström: "I'm going to be the best in the world, just watch me"". mmaviking.com. 2014-04-21.
  8. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström on UFC debut: "I saw the opportunity and I took it"". mmaviking.com. 2014-05-28.
  9. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström replaces Tavares, meets Tom Niinimäki at UFC Fight Night 41". mmajunkie.com. 2014-05-16.
  10. ↑ "UFC Fight Night 41 results: Emotional Niklas Bäckström taps out Tom Niinimäki". mmajunkie.com. 2014-05-31.
  11. ↑ "UFC Fight Night 41 bonuses: Mousasi, Dolloway, Backstrom, Cedenblad are winners". mmafighting.com. 2014-05-31.
  12. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström can pay back girlfriend with UFC Fight Night 41 bonus". mmajunkie.com. 2014-05-31.
  13. ↑ Jason Floyd (2014-07-25). "Niklas Backstrom vs. Mike Wilkinson added to UFC Fight Night 53". themmareport.com.
  14. ↑ Ben Fowlkes (2014-10-04). "UFC Fight Night 53 results: Mike Wilkinson shocks Niklas Backstrom with 79-second KO". mmajunkie.com.
  15. ↑ Ariel Helwani (2015-04-01). "Niklas Backstrom vs. Noad Lahat in the works for UFC Fight Night Berlin". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  16. ↑ "UFC Fight Night 69 results: Noad Lahat tops Niklas Bäckström via majority decision". mmajunkie.com. 2015-06-20.
  17. ↑ http://mmadecisions.com/decision/6263/Noad-Lahat-vs-Niklas-B%C3%A4ckstr%C3%B6m
  18. ↑ "UFC cuts Swedish featherweight prospect off back to back losses". bloodyelbow.com. 2015-08-28.
  19. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström draws Bulgarian vet for Battle of Botnia". mmaviking.com. 2015-11-25.
  20. ↑ "Live results: Battle of Botnia 2015". mmaviking.com. 2015-11-28.
  21. ↑ http://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/bouts/228236-battle-of-botnia-2015-niklas-bckstrm-vs-georgi-stanchev-stoyanov
  22. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström Moves to Lightweight for SFN 1 Matchup". mmaviking.com. 2016-05-29.
  23. ↑ http://www.mmaviking.com/live-reporting-sfn-1-in-stockholm/
  24. ↑ http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/6/9/11881362/beyond-the-octagon-tuf-finalists-break-even-as-ufc-vets-go-10-5
  25. ↑ "Bäckström vs Salovaara set for CAGE 37". mmajunkie.com. 2016-10-21.
  26. ↑ "Niklas Backstrom signs with BAMMA". bamma.com. 2016-04-11.
  27. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström signs for BAMMA". mmalatestnews.com. 2016-04-08.
  28. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström Makes BAMMA Debut in June". mmaviking.com. 2016-04-12.
  29. ↑ "Niklas Bäckström Makes BAMMA Debut in September". mmaviking.com. 2016-05-20.
  30. ↑ "Backstrom vs Moore added to the BAMMA 27 lineup". bamma.com. 2016-10-16.
  31. ↑ "UFC vet Niklas Backstrom meets Brian Moore under BAMMA banner at Bellator 169 in Dublin". 2016-10-18.
  32. ↑ "UFC Fight Night Berlin bonuses: Mousasi, Dollaway, Bäckström, Cedenblad each earn $50K". sherdog.com. 2014-05-31.
  33. ↑ http://www.mmaviking.com/2014-submission-of-the-year-niklas-backstrom/
  34. ↑ http://www.hiltibjj.com/new/2012/05/22/resultat-sm-submission-wrestling/
  35. ↑ http://www.hiltibjj.com/new/2010/10/21/hilti-stockholm-basta-klubb-svenska-masterskapen-i-submission-wrestling/
  36. ↑ http://www.budokampsport.se/forum/v%C3%A5ra-idrotter/ju-jutsu/v%C3%A4ster%C3%A5s-bjj-cup-4
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