Mwimbi Papy Abedi (born June 30, 1978) is a Congolese-

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 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 last competed in 2017. A professional competitor since 2006, he formerly fought for 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 Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Biography

Abedi was born in 1978 in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

(now

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

), where he grew up. He was given the nickname "Makambo" by the elders, which in

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

means "trouble", because whenever there was a fight or trouble, he was the first at the scene. He later moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, before moving to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 1997. He started training in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

at 7 years of age.

Mixed martial arts career

Abedi made his professional MMA debut in December 2006. He produced finishes in all but one of his fights, including five knockouts and two submissions.
At this point of his career multiple major MMA media outlets described him as one of the best middleweights in the European circuit and predicted that he had potential for a great future in MMA.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In June 2011, Papy signed a four-fight deal with 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 ...

, and it was announced that he would drop down to

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

for his UFC debut. Abedi made his UFC debut against former title challenger Thiago Alves on November 5, 2011 at

UFC 138 ''UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 5, 2011 at LG Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the United S ...

. Abedi was badly hurt by a straight right hand from Alves that knocked him down midway through the first round and after delivering a barrage of punches and elbows that cut Abedi open, Alves took Abedi's back and finished the fight via submission due to a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikogi ...

, giving Abedi his first professional loss. Although Abedi was given credit for stepping up against a top 10-fighter in his UFC debut. Abedi faced James Head on April 14, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva. Late in the opening round Head stunned Abedi with a short elbow from the clinch followed by a barrage of punches that knocked Abedi down, Head followed Papy to the mat and finished the fight with a

. Abedi was briefly linked to a bout with

Rick Story Rick Thomas Story (born August 28, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2007-2018, he last competed for the Professional Fighters League, but is better known for his 19-fight tenure with the UFC. Background Story ...

on June 22, 2012 at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida, replacing an injured

Rich Attonito Rich Attonito (born June 16, 1977) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2004 until 2011, he fought in the UFC, Cage Warriors, King of the Cage, and was contestant on the 11th season of ''The Ultimate Fighter''. Back ...

However, Abedi was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Brock Jardine. In his third fight with the promotion, Abedi faced fellow Swedish fighter Besam Yousef 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 ...

. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision, earning his first UFC win. Abedi next faced

Dylan Andrews Dylan Andrews (born 15 November 1979) is a mixed martial artist from New Zealand who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Absolute Championship Berkut. A professional competitor since 2006, he has formerly competed in the UFC, ...

in his return to

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

on August 28, 2013 at

UFC Fight Night 27 ''UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 27'') was a mixed martial arts event held on August 28, 2013, at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Backg ...

. Despite controlling and winning the first two rounds, Abedi lost via knockout in the third round. After the loss Abedi was subsequently released from the

Post UFC

After his run in the UFC, Abedi went back to fight in

. He was expected to face

Daniel Acácio Daniel Acácio (born 27 December 1977 in Botucatu) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, also current Superior Challenge Welterweight Champion and 100% Fight Middleweight Champion. He is most notable for his fights in PRIDE Fighting ...

for the Superior Challenge welterweight title on May 3, 2014 at Superior Challenge 10, but pulled out with an injury and was subsequently replaced by Alan Carlos. Abedi made his return, first expected at April 9, 2016 but later postponed, from what was an over three-year layoff, to face Bruno Carvalho in a middleweight bout on October 8, 2016 at Superior Challenge 14. He won the fight by TKO in the first round. He faced

, in a rematch of their 2013 UFC-bout, for the Superior Challenge Middleweight Championship on April 1, 2017 at Superior Challenge 15. He lost the fight by knockout via head kick in the 2nd round.

Mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 10–4 ,

, KO (head kick) , Superior Challenge 15 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:16 ,

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 ...

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Bruno Carvalho , TKO (punches) , Superior Challenge 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:01 ,

, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 ,

, KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:32 ,

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Besam Yousef , Decision (split) , UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 , James Head , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:33 ,

, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 , Thiago Alves , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:32 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Nathan Schouteren , Submission (guillotine choke) , Superior Challenge 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:22 ,

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Bohumil Lungrik , TKO (punches) , Hell Cage 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:53 ,

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, 6–0 , Nelton Pontes , TKO (punches) , Bushido Challenge 1: War of the Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:17 ,

Norwich, Norfolk Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, w ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Alan Carlos , TKO (punches) , Superior Challenge 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:56 ,

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Timur Akbulut , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Fight Fiesta de Luxe: Unstoppable , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Hollerich Hollerich ( lb, Hollerech) is a quarter in south-western Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. , the quarter has a population of 7,132 inhabitants. Hollerich railway station is located on Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois Line 70, which conne ...

, Luxembourg , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Aldric Cassata , TKO (knees) , Chaos Fighting Championships 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Juha Kaki , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto Finland: Bloodbath , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Mikael Pastor , TKO (knee to the body & punches) , Travelfight Arena , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:24 ,

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat 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 inha ...

, Sweden ,

References

External links

* *
Official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abedi, Papy 1978 births Living people Swedish male mixed martial artists Swedish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Democratic Republic of the Congo male mixed martial artists Democratic Republic of the Congo practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Welterweight mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Democratic Republic of the Congo male judoka Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Sweden Sportspeople from Kinshasa Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters