Exciting Swedish UFC fight when Pannie Kianzad faces Lina Lansberg

Pannie Kianzad and Lina Lansberg. Photo: Mark J. Rebilas – USA TODAY Sports / Stefan Romare – Frontkick.online

Saturday 16 April will be a exciting day for Swedish MMA when No. 12 ranked Pannie Kianzad takes on No. 11 ranked Lina Lansberg. This matchup was first reported by Frontkick.online.

“Lina is ranked higher than me, so my goal is to beat her and climb in the rankings,” Kianzad recently said to SVT Sport. “We have different skills, we both come from stand up fighting but have different styles. I am more aggressive with my hands. She is strong in the clinch and wrestling.”

The bantamweight bout is even more exciting when you add the fact that Kianzad and Lansberg already fought two times before, with one win each.

In 2010, they competed in the Swedish National Championships in Shootfighting and clashed in the finals, with Lina Lansberg coming out as the winner. Two years later they fought in MMA on the regional scene, with Kianzad as the winner via TKO in the third round.

And now, almost a decade later, they will meet again, both household names in the UFC and well established in the bantamweight division.

“It will be a completely different fight because we are different people and fighters today,” Kianzad recently told Sydsvenskan. “Now we have the chance to show our development after that fight nine years ago.”

What can we expect from the fighters then?

Kianzad is a tough and well-rounded fighter with four victories in her six UFC bouts, including a win over former title challenger Bethe Correia. “Banzai” has fast hands and slick boxing, with around 30 amateur boxing bouts in her resume.

Her opponent Lansberg has four wins in her eight UFC bouts, and tons of experience from facing top level competition like Cris Cyborg, Yana Kunitskaya and Sara McMann. Before the MMA career, she made her name as fierce Muay Thai fighter and claimed international success with two gold medals at the IFMA World Championship. She has a very good clinch and most certainly lives up to her nickname “The Elbow Queen”.

Click “Next” to get a closer look at the two Swedish combatants.