Karl Albrektsson ( sv , Karl Albrektsson, (born September 27, 1993), is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

mixed martial arts fighter, competing in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

. He has been performing at a professional level since 2012, and he is also known for his participation in the tournaments of fighting organizations

and

Rizin FF Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

. As of March 14, 2023, he is #10 in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Rankings.

Background

Albrektsson was born and raised in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. As a teenager, he easily got into trouble, but tried to keep himself in the loop via hockey and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. Hockey, which is also a physical sport, suited him well, already as a 15-year-old he was 1.88 tall and weighed over 90 kilos. In March 2019, he said in an interview that he wanted to wait with the UFC debut and why he did not aim for UFC Stockholm. He would like to have more experience and "be as mature as he can" when he debuts there.

Wushu

In 2014, Albrektsson participated in Wushu - European Championships in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and won Sweden's first European Championship gold on the men's side.

MMA

Early career

Albrektsson made his debut in the Polish organization MMA Koszalin and won his first match via finish in the second round. It took a little over a year after the debut before the next match ended.

International Ring Fight Arena

Albrektsson started playing matches within the Swedish organization IRFA in 2013 and went undefeated, 3–0, through his time with them for a total result of 4-0 and was then picked up by the Japanese organization

Rizin Fighting Federation

He made his debut on 17 April 2016 in Rizin 1, played a hard and even match against the Russian

sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

world champion and later Bellator champion,

Vadim Nemkov Vadim Aleksandrovich Nemkov (russian: Вадим Александрович Немков; born 20 June 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and a four-time Combat Sambo World Champion. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweig ...

who Albrektsson finally defeated via a split decision. On September 25 of the same year, Karl faced

Valentin Moldavsky Valentin Igorevich Moldavsky (russian: Валенти́н И́горевич Молда́вский; born 6 February 1992) is a Russian mixed martial artist and combat sambo practitioner. He is currently signed to Bellator MMA, where he is a fo ...

at Rizin World Grand Prix 2016: 2nd RoundMoldavsky was the first to defeat Albrektsson in the latter's professional career. He did so by unanimous decision in an open-weight bout. Just over ten months later, it was time for Karl's next bout on July 30, 2017, at Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2017 Opening Round Part 1. This time against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Teodoras Aukstuolis who Albrektsson defeated via submission. At the World Grand Prix second match of the tournament on December 29, 2017, Albrektsson met Czech Jiří Procházka who defeated him via TKO and knocked him out of the tournament. After that match, according to Albrektsson himself, he and Rizin had some trouble agreeing on matches. Instead, Karl competed at Superior Challenge at SC 17 against Dmitry Tebekin and at SC 18 on December 1, 2018, against

Josh Stansbury Josh Stansbury (born November 19, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the light heavyweight North American Allied Fight Series (NAAFS) champions in 2013 and formally fought for Bellator. Stansbury competes in Light Heavyweight divi ...

. He defeated both via stoppage Albrektsson was supposed to meet

Conor McGregor Conor Anthony McGregor ( ga, Conchúr Antóin Mac Gréagóir; born 14 July 1988) is an Irish professional mixed martial artist. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight and lightweight double-champion. He is the first ...

's club mate, Irishman Chris Fields 11 May at SC 19, but on May 3, 2019, it was reported that Albrektsson was forced to withdraw from the match due to injuries. His next bout for Rizin came against

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

's student Christiano Frohlich at Rizin 15 on April 21, 2019, which Albrektsson won by unanimous decision.

Bellator MMA

On July 30, 2019, it was announced that Albrektsson was signed to

. Bellator was in contact with Albrektsson already in 2013, but he wanted to get a little more experience before signing for a larger organization and therefore waited until 2019. Albrektsson debuted in the organization on October 25, 2019, at Bellator 231 against former Light heavyweight Phil Davis in the co-main bout. Davis relied on his wrestling background and took down Albrektsson in rounds 1 and 2. In round 3, Davis beat Albrektsson with body blow and finished Albrektsson against the cage. Albrektsson faced

Viktor Nemkov Viktor Aleksandrovich Nemkov (russian: Виктор Александрович Немков; born January 26, 1987) is a Russian sambist, judoka competitor and mixed martial artist. Nemkov won the 2011 World Sambo Championships in Com ...

, the brother of his previous opponent, at

Bellator 257 Bellator 257: Nemkov vs. Davis 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 16, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Background The event was headlined by two of the Quarterfinals of the B ...

on April 16, 2021. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Albrektsson was scheduled to face Julius Anglickas on October 16, 2021, at

Bellator 268 Bellator 268: Nemkov vs. Anglickas (also known as ''Bellator Phoenix'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on October 16, 2021, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Background The ev ...

. After Anglickas replaced Anthony Johnson in the LHW Grand Prix, Albrektsson instead faced Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov. He won by unanimous decision. As the first fight of his new multi-fight, multi-year contract, Albrektsson faced Karl Moore on September 23, 2022 at

Bellator 285 ''Bellator 285: Henderson vs. Queally'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA, that took place on 23 September 2022 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background Bellator returned to Dublin for the second time in 2022, fea ...

. He lost the fight via face crank submission in the second round. Albrektsson faced Grant Neal on February 4, 2023 at

Bellator 290 ''Bellator 290: Bader vs. Fedor 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on February 4, 2023, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, United States. The card aired live on CBS and Paramount Plus, the firs ...

. He lost the bout via split decision. 4 out of 6 media scores gave it to Albrektsson.

Mixed martial arts record

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Koszalin Koszalin (pronounced ; csb, Kòszalëno; formerly german: Köslin, ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-stat ...

, Poland ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Albrektsson, Karl 1993 births Living people] Swedish male mixed martial artists Swedish sanshou practitioners Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Bellator male fighters

Background

Wushu

MMA

Early career

International Ring Fight Arena

Rizin Fighting Federation

Bellator MMA

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links