UFC veteran Niklas Backstrom returns to MMA after 4.5 years at KSW 66

MMA News

UFC veteran Niklas Backstrom returns to MMA after 4.5 years at KSW 66

Three-time UFC veteran Niklas Backstrom is set to return to MMA competition for the first time in more than four years.

Backstrom (11-3), who hasn’t fought since July 2017, will end his hiatus from the sport at KSW 66 on Jan. 15 when he takes on Sebastian Rajewski (11-6).

MMA Junkie verified the booking with a person close to the situation.

KSW 66 takes place at Netto Arena in Szczecin, Poland and streams live on the promotion’s website.

Backstrom, 32, lost two of three fights in a brief UFC tenure that lasted less than 13 months. The Swede went on a three-fight winning streak after leaving the organization, before suffering a unanimous decision loss to Andrew Fisher at ACB 65. After that, he took a long exit from the sport.

Looking to give Backstrom a rude welcome back will be Rajewski, 29, who after a 4-5 start to his MMA carer, has won seven of his past eight fights.

Poland’s Rajewski will share the fight card with his older brother Lukasz Rajewski (11-6), who does not have an opponent announced at this time.

The latest KSW 66 lineup includes:

FIGHT CARD (KSWTV.com, 1 p.m. ET)

  • Marian Ziolkowski vs. Borys Mankowski
  • Tomasz Narkun vs. Ibragim Chuzhigaev
  • Michal Materla vs. opponent TBA
  • Krystian Kaszubowski vs. Tomasz Romanowski
  • Gracjan Szadzinski vs. opponent TBA
  • Wojciech Janusz vs. opponent TBA
  • David Martinik vs. Patryk Surdyn
  • Niklas Backstrom vs. Sebastian Rajewski
  • Lukasz Rajewski vs. opponent TBA

UFC veteran Niklas Backstrom returns to MMA after 4.5 years at KSW 66