Ilir Latifi returns to Stockholm to face Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 53

Ilir Latifi returns to Stockholm to face Jan Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 53

by Andreas Georgiou - @AGeorgiouMMA

UFC's return to Sweden is getting bigger as the days go on, with two more bouts being announced for the October 4 event emanating from Stockholm's Ericsson Global.

Two unranked light-heavyweight fighters will collide Sweden's Ilir 'The Sledgehammer' Latifi (9-3) will take on the former KSW light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz (17-3).

Following his vicious finish of Chris Dempsey at UFC Fight Night Dublin, Latifi will be looking to use his home country advantage as he takes on a very tough and gritty Polish opponent.

Meanwhile at Featherweight, 10th ranked German Dennis Siver (21-9-1NC) will meet Scotland's Robert Whiteford (11-2) in an exciting match up. Both men have a high finishing rate, and this fight isn't expected to go the distance.

This will be Siver's first fight since his win against Manvel Gamburyan in December last year was overturned to a no contest due to Siver testing positive for hCG.

The current UFC Stockholm card:

Welterweight Nico Musoke vs. Amir Sadollah
Featherweight Niklas Bäckström vs. Mike Wilkinson
Featherweight Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Ernest Chavez
Featherweight Dennis Siver vs. Robert Whiteford
Light-Heavyweight Ilir Latifi    vs.     Jan Blachowicz

Cage Warriors Intends to Expands into Scandinavia with 3 Events; Adds 12 Nordic Fighters to Roster

Cage Warriors Intends to Expands into Scandinavia with 3 Events; Adds 12 Nordic Fighters to Roster
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Cage Warriors have today announced intentions to expand into Scandinavia in 2014 with officials confirming that three events have been scheduled for the Nordic region.

In addition the promotion  have signed 13 Nordic fighters to compete under the CWFC banner, as well as appointing well-known MMA coach and manager in the Nordic region Tue Trnka as its Head of Operations in Scandinavia.

Cage Warriors will host its first ever Nordic event in Denmark in the first quarter of 2014, with Sweden will be next on the agenda later in the year. The promotion has also vowed to work to develop the MMA situation in Norway, where events are currently prohibited.

“Given the rate at which Cage Warriors Fighting Championship has grown in recent years, it was only a matter of time before we spread our wings into the Nordic region, where the appetite for live MMA is absolutely enormous,” said Cage Warriors CEO Graham Boylan.

“People are constantly telling me that Cage Warriors is the biggest promotion in Europe and moving into a new territory like this will be further proof of that. I have very big plans for Scandinavia and fans will get a look at some of those in 2014.”

Nordic-based fighters have featured prominently on CWFC cards over the last few years, with the likes of Mats Nilsson, Mohsen Bahari, Matteus Lahdesmaki and Bruno Carvalho all currently contracted exclusively to the promotion.

They’ll now be joined on the roster by over a dozen new fighters operating under the guidance of Tue Trnka, including unbeaten welterweight Nicolas Dalby (11-0), light-heavyweight Joachim Christensen (8-3) and lightweight Ayub Tashkilot (11-3).

Co-owner of the Rumble Sports gym in Copenhagen, new Cage Warriors Head of Operations in Scandinavia, Trnka has an extensive background in combat sports in Scandinavia, the 34-year-old has also worked in media roles for the likes of Danish Eurosport.

Trnka recently met Cage Warriors officials in London to discuss the expansion into Scandinavia, after being identified by CWFC boss Graham Boylan as the ideal candidate to represent the promotion in the Nordic region.

“With all due respect to the other Scandinavian events,” said Trnka, “I honestly feel Cage Warriors brings a whole different level for the fighters to perform at. You can’t put a price on the attention and publicity a strong performance at a Cage Warriors event gives a fighter.

“Cage Warriors creates worldwide exposure for fighters like no other MMA event in Scandinavia, or anywhere else in Europe for that matter, and now this scene is set to open up for Nordic fighters in a big way.

“I’m really excited about this massive opportunity, both for myself and for Nordic fighters, who now get a golden chance to regularly perform on the big stage. The history of Cage Warriors, what they’ve done for the sport and the level of their events is really second to none in Europe".

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for me, and I especially feel very honoured to be chosen as Head of Operations for the Scandinavian arm of Cage Warriors. I’m going to do my very best to help raise the bar for Nordic MMA along with the rest of the Cage Warriors crew. This is a splendid day for Nordic MMA.”

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship is currently in the process of finalising a schedule of 18 events to be held across several countries worldwide next year, starting with CWFC 64 at The Forum in London on Saturday, 15 February, 2014.

The promotion will finish 2013 on the back of 14 events in seven different countries. Last year saw 12 CWFC shows staged across nine countries, bringing to 26 the total number of CWFC events that have taken place since February of last year, cementing Cage Warriors’ reputation as the busiest promotion with the widest international footprint outside of the UFC.

Graham Boylan added:

“Our rate of expansion recently has been satisfying, but in 2014 we’ll be taking things to a whole new level. There are some very exciting times ahead for this promotion and I’m delighted to be welcoming Tue Trnka onboard to lead us into Scandinavia.

“I’ve also just finalised a hugely significant deal, which will allow me to widen my resources by doubling the size of my current team and bringing in industry-based staff. In 2014 we’re coming out with all guns blazing.”

Cage Warriors Logo used courtesy of CageWarriors.com