Niklas Stolze (born December 28, 1992) is a German

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division. A professional since 2014, he most notably competed for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC).

Background

Stolze began his career in

Combat Jiu-Jitsu Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on Clinch fighting, clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a Submis ...

at the age of 15, then switched to kickboxing two years later through his coach Sascha Poppendieck. But the goal was always MMA, deciding in 2014 to pursue a career as an MMA professional. On top of MMA, Stolze also completed training as a welder. He is the first East German to be signed to the UFC.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Stolze spent most of his pre-UFC career fighting on the European regional scene, compiling a 12–3 record, with two of his losses coming the way of unanimous decision at

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ire ...

, losing to Terry Brazier at BAMMA 27 and Chris Stringer at BAMMA 30.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Stolze made his UFC debut, as a replacement for

Shavkat Rakhmonov Shavkat Bakhtibaevich Rakhmonov (born October 23, 1994) is a Kazakh professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Rakhmonov is also a former M-1 Global Welter ...

, against

Ramazan Emeev Ramazan Dadaevich Emeev (russian: Рамазан Дадаевич Эмеев; born May 20, 1987 in Dagestan) is a Russian mixed martial artist. He is Combat Sambo World Champion who currently fights in the Welterweight division. He is a former M ...

on July 26, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till. Stolze lost the fight via unanimous decision. Stolze was scheduled to face

Mounir Lazzez Mounir Lazzez (born November 16, 1987) is a Tunisian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional fighter since 2012, he is the first fighter that was born and raised in an A ...

on July 31, 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Hall vs. Strickland. However, Lazzez pulled out just a few days before the event due to visa issues and was replaced by Jared Gooden. He lost the fight via knockout in round one. Stolze faced

Benoît Saint-Denis Benoît Saint-Denis (born 18 December 1995), is a French professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the first French fighter having competed and won on a UFC card o ...

on June 4, 2022 at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Rozenstruik. Stolze lost the bout after getting submitted in the second round. On June 9, 2022 it was announced that Stolze was released from the UFC.

Mixed martial arts record

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Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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Jared Gooden Jared Alexander Gooden (born December 5, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2015, Gooden most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Bac ...

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Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

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Balingen Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Christian Draxler , TKO (punches) , Cage FS 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:43 ,

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Austria , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Jan Janka , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Oktagon 7 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:32 ,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 , Johannes Michalik , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Hype FC 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:47 ,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

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Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Mahmod Faour , Decision (unanimous) , Magdeburger Cage 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, Germany , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 , Terry Brazier , Decision (unanimous) , BAMMA 27 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Maxime Vanelstraete , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Imperium Fighting Championship 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:25 ,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Johannes Grebe , Submission (armbar) , Superior FC 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:32 ,

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Rastislav Hanulay , Decision (unanimous) , Imperium Fighting Championship 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Florent Conte , TKO (punches) , Imperium Fighting Championship 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:39 ,

, Germany , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Sebastian Reimitz , Decision (split) , Ravage: Finest MMA , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Max Rose , KO (head kick) , Imperium Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:28 ,

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Nils Fischer , Submission (guillotine choke) , La Onda Fight Club , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Lauris Leitans , TKO (punches) , Imperium Fighting Championship , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:48 ,

, Germany ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stolze, Niklas 1992 births Living people German male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing jujutsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters German jujutsuka