The climb up the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division has grown
increasingly steep for
Mark O.
Madsen.
Madsen will put his perfect 11-0 record on the line when he meets
“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 semifinalist
Vinc Pichel
as part of the
UFC 273 undercard on April 9 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial
Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The undefeated Dane has turned away
three opponents inside the Octagon since he joined the UFC roster
in 2019. Madsen last fought at UFC on ESPN 29, where he eked out a
split decision over former
Strikeforce
champion
Clay Guida on
Aug. 21. Pichel, meanwhile, enters the cage on the strength of a
three-fight winning streak. The
Factory
X export has not tasted defeat since he submitted to a
Gregor
Gillespie arm-triangle choke at UFC Fight Night 131 on June 1,
2018.
As Madsen and Pichel move ever closer to their three-round
confrontation at 155 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that
have accompanied them to this point:
37: Years of age for Madsen, who was born on Sept. 23, 1984 in
Nykobing Falster, Denmark.
3: Madsen wins by submission, accounting for 27% of his career
total (11). His methods of choice: two guillotine chokes and one
rear-naked choke. Madsen owns three other wins by knockout or
technical knockout and five more by decision.
26: Seconds needed for Madsen to put
Matthias
Freyschuss to sleep with a guillotine choke at an MMA Galla
show in January 2018. Having occurred more than four years ago, it
remains the fastest finish of his 11-fight career.
1: Olympic appearance for Madsen. He won silver in Greco-Roman
wrestling at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Madsen lost
to two-time Olympic champion
Roman Vlasov in the 75-kilogram
final.
6: Promotions in which Madsen has competed as a mixed martial
artist. He has gone 3-0 in the UFC, 3-0 in
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, 2-0 in European MMA, 1-0
in Olympian Fight Night, 1-0 in Danish MMA Night and 1-0 in MMA
Gala.