The People of Sweden Have Spoken: Bring Guram Kutateladze to the UFC
Recently there was a rumor that the MMA industry leader UFC is planning an event in Stockholm, Sweden on the 1st of June. Immediately there were rumblings about which Swedish fighter the UFC should sign.
Our sister site MMAnytt.se had a poll that drew more than 8,000 voters: Who do you want to see make their UFC debut at UFC Stockholm this summer?
There was one fighter that was a clear winner in the competition: the Georgian-born Guram Kutateladze. He got 22% of the total votes, while light heavyweight Karl Albrektsson came in at 2nd place with 13% of the votes.
Made his pro-MMA debut at only 9 years old
Kutateladze, 27, was born in Georgia but had to flee to Moscow, Russia because of the civil war. It was in Russia his love for martial arts was born. He started training in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu at 7 and instantly fell in love.
He had his first pro-MMA fight at 9 years old against 10-year-old Sambo champion Yuri Cherney.
Guram Kutateladze getting caught in an armbar in his pro debut.
– I got caught in an armbar, as you can see on the picture, Kudataladze said in an interview with MMAnytt’s Jan Ahmadi. I tried to shake him off and even slammed him a couple of times, but it didn’t help.
– He tore a ligament in my arm and we had to go to the emergency room. In the hospital, they told me I had to rest a couple of months or work out with some pain. I chose the latter, Kutateladze continued.
He is trained in the martial arts of Sambo, BJJ, Submission wrestling, kickboxing, boxing, and recently moved from the south of Sweden to Stockholm.
Now he trains at Allstars Training Center alongside superstars such as Alexander Gustafsson, Ilir Latifi and Jimi Manuwa. He has amassed a record of 10-2-0, winning 7 straight fights since 2015.
Kutateladze has had problems getting fights in Sweden, and because of not having citizenship, he was not able to seek opponents abroad. That changed a couple of weeks ago as he finally, after a lot of work, received his citizenship.
Some announcement, my FB friends. Thank you all, who’ve been involved in this process during this 7 years.Keep on fighting and stay humble!Sincerely yours, GK.
Publicerat av Guram Kutateladze Måndag 28 januari 2019
On Monday night he visited the MMAnytt’s Swedish Podcast and had a message for all the lightweights out there.
“I am ready for you, but you are not ready for me. There has been a lot of talks, but you should wait with talk until you have been through what I have been through, ” Kutateladze said.
“No one has been through what I’ve been through. UFC, I am ready for anyone. But no one is ready for me!”
To see the full podcast (in Swedish), go to the top of this page.
Top 5 fighters the Swedish audience want to see compete at UFC Stockholm
- Guram Kutateladze (LW), Allstars Training Center (10-2-0) (22%, 2,572 Votes)
- Karl Albrektsson (LHW), Pancrase Gym (8-2-0) (13%, 1,564 votes)
- Simon Sköld (FTW), Nacka Dojo (9-6-0) (11%, 1,267 Votes)
- Robin Roos (WW), Västerås Fight Club (1-0) (7%, 756 Votes)
- Fernando Gonzalez (MW), Allstars Training Center (9-2) (5%, 620 Votes)
