MMA Viking’s goal is to provide the world insight into the Nordic mixed martial arts scene. The team tries its best to cover every event in person, delivering unique coverage in an entertaining manner to help grow the sport. We also try and go abroad for Nordic fighters having bouts outside of scandinavia so nothing is ever missed. The lead writers are Stockholm-based Ryan O’Leary and Helsinki-based Joona Pylkäs. The
David Defenbaugh Made the First Logo
website is the leading resource for Nordic MMA, with 50,000+ fans each month visiting the site and an active group of over 5,300 Facebook fans.
2008 – 2010
mmaViking.com was founded in the Summer of 2008 by Ryan O’Leary. With limited information available in English about Swedish fighters and the Scandinavian MMA scene, O’Leary started writing about local fighters and events to share with the world.
O’Leary’s first local event was a ringside seat at Superior Challenge 2 in late 2008 –he was in awe of the top-notch production, talented local fighters, and the energy at the packed house at Fryshuset in Stockholm.
The transport from California also began obsessively tracking the plans of the UFC, which began mentioning Sweden as a potential destination for an event for the first time in 2008, and provided information to help urge Zuffa to bring the Octagon to Stockholm.
As O’Leary began to cover more and more events within Sweden, he began to expand see how close MMA was intertwined with Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark, so he began to extend coverage into neighboring countries.
2011 – 2012
When MMA Viking looked for a Finland MMA insider, it turned to Joona Pylkäs. He is the founder of beatingsfromthenorth.blogspot.com, and with permission he has shared many of his popular event previews and local event reports with MMA Viking. His interview about MMA in Finlandwas one of the sites most popular interviews ever on the website.
Joona Pylkäs Based in Finland
In October of 2011, Pylkäs and O’Leary decided to merge websites in order to create better coverage for all things Nordic MMA.
Pylkäs insights into Nordic MMA are unique, and he lead the creation of the first official Nordic rankings for MMA Viking.
O’Leary’s is also a frequent contributor to Sherdog. He first penned “Bright Lights in Sweden’s Dark November” in November of 2010, which is one of the most widely read articles about Swedish MMA.
Kaoru Tsukamoto began writing for MMA Viking in late 2011. She is founder of AsgardMMA.com, which was the only source for Nordic MMA in English from 2003 – 2008. She was a mixed-martial-arts practitioner and has seen hundreds of MMA events. From Shooto and Pride in Japan to old FinnFights in Finland, she has seen it all –you won’t find anyone who loves to talk MMA as Tsukamoto does. Tsukamoto will be providing exclusive coverage, including fighter interviews and updating the Nordic MMA calendar.
Killer Beach created curent graphics and design of the current website. Visit www.killer-beach.com, I highly recommend this web design shop.
MMA Viking’s Daniel Meets His Heros Mauro and Steven
Henrik Wall is MMA Viking’s heavy gun, when getting fantastic event photos and videos. Wall was thrown in the deep end as he covered his first sporting event at Superior Challenge 7 in 2011. View the event report & photos, and photo gallery on Sherdog. His photos have continued to improve, and has even been featured recently in a 7-page spread in Sweden’s Fighter Magazine.
Tommas Tingbjør began contributing video from Norway. The documentary maker and videographer has extended MMA Viking coverage, including the recent Cage Fight Live events in Denmark. Learn more about Tommas. With close ties to John Olav Einemo, be prepared for some exclusive footage as he continues his exciting fight style in the Octagon.
Stockholm’s Daniel Schälander launched MMA Viking move into video interviews… while helping to launch the popular video interviews and highlights of Nordic fighters. The up-and-coming submission wrestler, filmed and edited the websites first interviews with Sirwan Kakai and Claes Beverlöv, and the goal it to keep adding more and more. His game went to another level with the Nico Musoke video series. Check out our new video section.
Denmark’s Thomas Christensen helps MMA Viking with all things Danish, including translations and event information. He has also began with writing fight announcements, and will be helping to expand coverage of the Danish MMA market.
Sofia Berg rocked with photos for both Vision Fight Night 1 and The Zone FC Demolition.
Iikka Nikkinen has a passion for MMA and photography. When he went out to take photos at his first event (Carelia 8 in Turku, Finland) and also wrote an event report, we knew we had a unique contributer.
O’Leary at the UFC in Sweden | Picture by Fightfan.dk
2013
MMA Viking has added a fantastic team in Norway, including Kittil Aarnes who provides regular photos and features and Ms. skOOm who takes photos, does interviews, and edits video features. We have also added a rock-star from Finland to write a blog on his introduction to MMA.
Everything goes on our Facebook page as 6,000+ fans talk Nordic MMA, plus UFC, TUF, Strikeforce, Bellator, Dream, and more. Fight pick competitions, “don’t be scared homie” photos, fun videos, and the latest Scandinavian MMA news. Join us today!
MMA Viking also shares information and videos with popular Swedish sites MMANytt.se and Kimura.se, Norway’s mma-norway.com, and Denmark’s content partner FightFan.dk.
Follow Joona Pylkäs and Ryan O’Leary on Twitter.
Team
Joona Pylkäs
Lead Writer, Helsinki, Finland
NorthernmostMMA@gmail.com
Ryan O’Leary
Founder & Editor, Stockholm, Sweden
ryan@mmaViking.com
Follow @mmaViking
Daniel Schälander
Videographer
Stockholm, Sweden
Miss skOOm
Writer, Videographer, & Stunt Reporter
Oslo, Norway
Jesper S. Baek (DEN) – Photographer
Kittil Aarnes (NOR) – Writer & Photographer
Christoffer Jonasson (SWE) – Writer
Kaoru Tsukamoto (SWE) – MMA Enclyclopedia
Iikka Nikkinen (FIN) – Photographer & Writer
Thomas Christensen (DEN) – Contributor
Sofia Borg (SWE) – Photographer
Content Partners : FightFan.dk & FightSport.fi & powerhousemma.ie & mmaforum.dk
MMA Viking is the best source for Nordic mixed martial arts. 50,000+ fans each month discover exclusive news, interviews, photos, event reports, and the UFC’s plans for Sweden and Finland.
Contact Us
Do you have a story or a tip that would be appropriate for the site? Looking for advertising opportunities and any other inquiries, want to contribute with photos or writing, don’t hesitate to contact:
Ryan O’Leary
Stockholm, Sweden
Email – ryan@mmaviking.com
Chat AIM – olearysd
Let’s grow Nordic MMA together!
hallo her speak heinz,
whe have a portal for mma, and my questions is can whe take our video
for the presentation on my side fightgalla24…thank´s and good look for the
tournament.
käfiggeflüster.de/com