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Breaking down the young MMA career of striking sensation Samuel ”Sammon Decker” Bark
Samuel Bark. Photo by Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors
Multiple-time Muay Thai champion and rising MMA star Samuel Bark has quickly become one of the absolute hottest MMA prospects in Scandinavia with an impressive string of wins and highlight finishes.
He made his pro debut in late 2021 and had an incredibly active 2022, fighting a total of seven times.
Let’s take a closer look at Samuel Bark’s MMA journey these past two years. In this article, we’ll recap his young MMA career with fight-by-fight breakdowns all the way up to Saturday’s OKTAGON 50.
1-0: Baysangur Makaev, first-round KO win
Photo: Patrik Persson/Wolf Fight Promotion
- Wolf Fight Promotion 3
- Date: 2021.10.02
In October 2021, Samuel Bark made his professional MMA debut in style as he faced the tough Baysangur Makaev at local MMA promotion Wolf Fight Promotion 3.
Makaev started strong, implementing his solid wrestling, but three minutes into the first round, Bark landed a vicious flying knee that ended the fight. Bark couldn’t have asked for a better way to start his professional MMA career.
2-0: Ioan Vranceanu, first-round KO win
Photo: Stefan Romare
- Bulldog Fight Night 9
- Date: 2021.11.19
Just a few weeks after his debut, ”Sammon Decker” entered the cage for his second professional MMA fight, as he faced Romanian veteran Ioan Vrânceanu at Bulldog Fight Night 9* in Gothenburg.
Bark was in command right from the start, landing heavy leg kicks at will. Before the round ended he secured his second first-round finish as he stopped Vrânceanu with knees and punches.
*Bulldog Fight Night 9 also featured a wrestling bout between Swedish UFC stars Khamzat Chimaev and Jack Hermansson. Check out the full fight here!
3-0: Denis Jurakic, unanimous decision win
Samuel Bark. Photo: Stefan Romare – Frontkick
- Fight Club Rush 11
- Date: 2022.02.26
Samuel Bark started 2022 strong with his third straight professional win.
On February 26, he faced Serbia’s Denis Jurakić at Swedish MMA promotion Fight Club Rush 11 in Västerås.
After three tough rounds, the Swede stood as the winner via unanimous decision with 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 on the scorecards.
3-1: Alexander Lööf, split decision loss
Photo Credit: Stefan Romare – Frontkick
- Fight Club Rush 12
- Date: 2022.05.07
In May, the 30-year-old fighter faced Alexander Lööf in the main event at Fight Club Rush 12 in Västerås.
Both featherweights entered the cage as undefeated professionals, coming into the bout with three straight wins each.
After three tough rounds of action, where both fighters had success, Lööf eventually stood as the winner via split decision, giving Bark his sole loss as an professional MMA fighter.
4-1: Alexandru Chitoran, split decision win
Photo by: Tomasz Piwinski
- UAE Warriors 30
- Date: 2022.07.02
Less than two months after the career-first loss, ”Sammon Decker” returned to action to face Romania’s Alexandru Chitoran at UAE Warriors 30 on July 2.
After three hard-fought rounds, where the Swede effectively shut down all Chitoran’s grappling attempts, he eventually stood as the winner via split decision at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
5-1: Tobias Harila, second-round KO win
Samuel Bark. Photo via Dolly Clew / Cage Warriors
- Cage Warriors 141
- Date: 2022.07.22
Less than three weeks after the win at UAE Warriors, Samuel Bark was back in the cage to face his heavy-hitting countryman Tobias ”Bad Intention” Harila on July 22.
Harila was initially scheduled to face former title contender James Hendin, however, as the Englishman pulled out of the fight due to injury, Bark stepped in on short notice to make his Cage Warriors debut.
Tensions had already been rising between Bark and Harila since the pair traded fighting words and went back and forth in various interviews with Frontkick.online. Hence, a Swedish MMA rivalry was boiling hot when the opportunity arose for the pair to settle it in the cage.
After a solid first round, Bark landed two big knees to win the fight via second-round KO.
6-1: Manny Akpan, second-round TKO
Samuel ”Sammon Decker” Bark. Photo by Stefan Romare/Frontkick.online
- Cage Warriors 146
- Date: 2022.11.12
After a few months off trying to find someone to fight, ”Sammon Decker” finally returned in November, to end the year with a trio of impressive wins.
At Cage Warriors 146, he entered the cage to face hometown fighter Manny Akpan in Manchester.
The Swede had no problem silencing the Manchester crowd, as he stopped Akpan with relentless ground-and-pound in the second round, to remain undefeated in the promotion.
7-1: Jerry Kvarnström, first-round TKO win
Photo by: Tomasz Piwinski
- Superior Challenge 25
- Date: 2022.12.10
Just a few weeks after defeating Akpan, ”Sammon Decker” made his Superior Challenge debut as he faced seasoned grappler Jerry Kvarnström at Superior Challenge 25 in Stockholm.
The 30-year-old striker started the fight with a flying knee attempt and continued to attack Kvarnström at a high pace as the fight took to the ground, never letting the veteran get into the fight.
After some furious ground-and-pound from Bark, the referee stepped in to stop the bout just minutes into the first round.
8-1: Orlando Wilson Prins, unanimous decision win
Photo by Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors
- Cage Warriors 148
- Date: 2022.12.31
No rest for Christmas!
Instead of getting a well deserved break during the holidays, the restless Swede decided to end the year in style with another short-notice fight. This time against Netherlands Orlando Wilson Prins at the Cage Warriors New Year’s Eve event in London.
During three tough rounds, the decorated Muay Thai champion showed proof of his developing ground game, as the seasoned grappler Wilson Prins had a hard time threatening him on the mat.
The Dutchman managed to rack up some control time in the first round, but Bark came back stronger in the later rounds, reversing position and landing heavy strikes.
After the final bell, Bark stood as the winner via unanimous decision, ready to enter 2023 with a record of 8-1, after just little over a year as a professional MMA fighter.
8-2, Losene Keita, third-round TKO loss
Photo via Twitter
- OKTAGON MMA 39
- Date: 2023.02.11
After a extremely busy 2022, the weary and battle tired Swede returned to action to take on the hyped, and at that time, undefeated heavy-hitter Losene “Black Panther” Keita in a high-profile featherweight bout.
The Belgian striker kept constant pressure and threw well-placed punches throughout the bout. Bark did his best to keep his aggressive opponent at bay but wasn’t able to get his own game going.
Early in the third round, Keita secured the TKO finish via a left upper cut followed-up by a couple of heavy hits on the ground.
9-2,Vladimir Lengal, split decision win
Photo via OKTAGON MMA
- OKTAGON MMA 50
- Date: 2023.12.10
In his return to the OKTAGON cage, 10 months after his loss to Losene Keita, ”Sammon Decker” defeated boxer Vladimir Lengal via split decision at OKTAGON 50.
The grueling fight showed Bark’s improvement as a MMA fighter as he displayed strong takedown defense and solid offensive wrestling, as well as submission attempts on the ground.
After three tough rounds, Bark stood as the winner with 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28 on the scorecards. The win was his first in the European promotion.
Read more: Bernardo Sopai returns to fight for his second bantamweight title!