Top 20 Best Swedish Combat Sports Commentators

Swedish combat sports is growing fast with numerous organizations and fighters competing at every level between local amateur promotions and headlining UFC events and international boxing shows.

Guiding the viewers through the action in promotion’s like Superior Challenge and Muay Thai For Life – as well as Viaplay’s UFC broadcasts – are a number of passionate experts and dedicated former fighters.

Without further ado here are the 20 Best Swedish Combat Sports Commentators!

20. Patricia Axling

Patricia Axling is not only one of the best female Muay Thai fighters to ever do it, but also a sharp and knowledgeable analyst.

Axling was brought in for commentary duties at the inaugural Sthlm Fight Night show earlier this year and did a solid job guiding the viewers through the fights while providing expert analysis. We would definitely not mind hearing her commentate more Muay Thai shows in Sweden.

19. Camila Rivarola

Camilla Rivarola is a perfect example of a well-spoken fighter putting her mixed martial arts knowledge and competitive experience to use as a commentator.

She’s quite new in the role, but Rivarola did an awesome job at Allstars Fight Night’s most recent event and will hopefully be calling the action on more shows in the future.

18. Philip Dersén

Boxing expert, coach, podcaster and journalist Philip Dersén is one of the absolute sharpest commentators in Sweden when it comes to boxing.

The former amateur pugilist guides the viewers through the bouts at the Swedish Boxing Championship, and fights with the Swedish National Team, with his insightful and solid commentatin. He was also doing interviews for Viaplay at ABP Fight Night 9.

At the moment, Dersén shares his thoughts about the sweet science through chronicles for Maximum Sports, as well as Käftsmällspodden.

17. Johan Taliercio

 

Frontkick co-founder and former chief of staff Johan Taliercio has probably the best radio voice on this list. He’s mostly known as an exceptional writer and reporter in the MMA news media space, but has also served as a combat sports commentator – working on various Swedish broadcasts including FCR and Bulldog Fight Night throughout the years.

One thing that makes Taliercio stand out is his attention to detail as he’s always making sure to absolutely nail every fighter’s name pronunciation. When calling the action, he usually steps into somewhat of a play-by-play role and he always does a great job guiding viewers through the events with his sharp commentary and at times quite humorous ways of describing the action.

16. Enrique Parraguez

Enrique Parraguez isn’t particularly known amongst Swedish combat sports commentators. That’s because he’s really just done a couple of smaller events thus far, most recently calling the action during the Swedish Muay Thai championship finals on Käftsmällspodden’s live broadcast where he did an amazing job.

As a fighter and coach standing on years of experience in the hurt business, he obviously knows what he’s talking about and he’s quite well-spoken too which makes him a solid analyst that we definitely want to hear more of.

15. Ashah Tafari

Frontkick co-founder Ashah Tafari has been a strong voice in the Swedish MMA scene for a long time.

From a young age, the Stockholm-born former Karate fighter dedicated his life to martial arts, which can be heard in his insightful yet humorous commentating.

Always reflective and always close to laughter, Tafari’s voice has been heard in promotions like Bulldog Fight Night, Allstars Fight Night, Lord of the Cage, FCR and Nerike MMA Series. As a podcaster he was a part of the Käftsmällspodden team for many episodes sharing his thoughts on everything from UFC’s biggest fights to local Swedish talents.

14. Carl-Michael ”CM” Andersson

Carl-Michael Andersson appeared seemingly out of nowhere as he stepped up as a commentator for Fight Club Rush. He showed up as a pro, kicked ass immediately and subsequently earned more gigs in Sweden like AFN as well as abroad in promotions like Spill FC, while also making a name for himself as a podcaster as he was part of the Käftsmällspodden crew for several episodes.

Andersson is well-spoken and has got a solid understanding of the fight game as a former amateur MMA fighter and active BJJ competitor.

A couple of friendly knocks on Andersson’s commentary are that he tends to toot his own horn by repeatedly talking about his own fighting background, and that he has shown to get a little too excited cage side at times which can make the commentary sound more like a fight companion stream with laughter and outbursts rather than professional analysis.

13. Ryan O’Leary

Ryan O’Leary is a legend of Swedish MMA Media as the founder of MMA Viking, as well as a regular English-speaking commentator for Superior Challenge.

The Swedish-based American has got a lovely voice well-suited for broadcasting, years of experience covering the fight game and generally gives of good vibes regardless of whether you hear him calling the action or meet him in person.

12. Simon Sköld

As a professional fighter himself, as well as a TV personality used to media relations, Simon Sköld being one of Sweden’s prominent MMA commentators shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Sköld has called the action in Swedish for Viaplay on multiple UFC broadcasts as well as local shows in both Swedish and English. He’s well-spoken, informed and uses his own fighting experience to bring value for the viewers with his expert analysis.

11. Paul del Valle

Commentator and podcaster Paul del Valle has one of the most well-known voices in Swedish MMA.

Best known for his commentating on UFC events for Viaplay, del Valle is a true veteran of the game, guiding Swedish viewers through some of the biggest fights in the promotion’s history.

The 45-year-old recently made a comeback as he commentated on the first Allstar Fight Night in July.

10. Simon Kölle

Simon Kölle is one of the true OG’s of Swedish MMA journalism as he has written for most of the combat sports outlets out there and even published a book about mixed martial arts.

He’s got a good understanding of fighting through years of covering martial arts and he has been putting all that knowledge to use as a commentator for several years, mainly as one of the English-speaking voices for Superior Challenge.

Kölle has worked at multiple other Swedish shows too, including Bulldog Fight Night, and definitely knows what he’s talking about as he provides his commentary.

9. Pannie Kianzad

Pannie Kianzad is not only a top ranked UFC bantamweight, she’s also a reputable MMA commentator who’s known from Viaplay’s UFC broadcasts and FCR.

With all the experience coming from competing at the highest possible level in the world, Kianzad’s knowledge and insight is among the best in the game.

The top ranked bantamweight is just a win or two away from a potential shot at the UFC title, and we hope to see her back in the octagon as soon as possible.

8. Magnus Cedenblad

Former UFC fighter Magnus ”Jycken” Cedenblad is a veteran of both the world of fighting and the world commentating. Pulling together a 4-2 record in the world’s leading MMA promotion, against fighters like Krzysztof Jotko and Scott Askham, before retiring from the sport in 2018.

With his trademark deep voice and immense knowledge about fighting at the biggest stages, Cedenblad is one of the absolute best Swedish MMA commentators around.

7. Lina Länsberg

Retired UFC bantamweight Lina ”Elbow Queen” Länsberg has been an appreciated commentator for Viaplay over the past few years but also commented for local Swedish events like Battle of Botnia.

As a former top dog in the world’s leading MMA promotion, she has a lot of insight of competing at the highest level, which certainly gives her commentating depth, whether it is for UFC or Swedish promotion Superior Challenge.

6. Sebastian Cepeda

Sebastian Cepeda, more known by his nickname Zebzebba, may very well be the very best on this list when it comes to his understanding of the MMA game, the fighters and his ability not only to analyze what’s going on in real time – but also predicting what’s going to happen next just right before it actually does.

Zebzebba has a way with words in the least snobby way possible, as well as a very suiting voice for broadcasting. He’s got years of podcasting experience, lately as part of Käftsmällspodden, and actually had Swedish MMA fans rallying on his behalf in order to get him into the UFC broadcasts on Viaplay, from whom he finally got the call earlier this year.

Cepeda is a multitasker in the MMA space as a former fighter as well as a current coach and manager besides his career as a media personality. He’s incredibly likable and a real one in the game, always calling it as he sees it.

5. Ali Faraj

Ali Faraj wasn’t really a well-known name within the mainstream Swedish MMA community, but those in the know had no doubt he would succeed as a commentator. As a former amateur fighter with bouts against top talent like Moe Ahmadi and Robert Nyström, Faraj has begun building up a name for himself commentating the Swedish Amateur MMA League.

He then jumped on the opportunity to commentate at French promotion Hexagone MMA, completely nailing it, leading to a recurring commentary gig with IMMAF. He also gained attention in the media space as a brilliant co-host for Käftsmällspodden in Malmö.

Faraj is still quite new to working the broadcasts but he’s undoubtedly a natural as he constantly delivers sharp analysis and interesting remarks without letting his ego get in the way – whether it be in the podcast studio or at the events as he’s calling the action live from cageside.

This year, Faraj has done commentary for the Swedish Muay Thai championship finals, the IMMAF World Championships well as Battle of Botnia and Wolf Fight Promotion.

4. Alexander Brodal

Alexander Brodal is an MMA and Muay Thai fighter who began calling the action during Zone Pro League shows in his hometown of Gothenburg. He kicked ass as a color commentator right away and later got into podcasting too, as part of Käftsmällspodden’s team in Gothenburg.

Brodal has since done commentary for more broadcasts and his natural charm, his lighthearted humor and most importantly his deep-rooted knowledge about the fight game puts him in our top five despite him having less experience than many of the other names on this list.

3. Tim Sasivanij

Tim Sasivanij has had a quick and interesting rise to arguably the pinnacle of MMA commentary in Sweden as he’s currently doing the Swedish commentary for Viaplay’s UFC broadcasts, as well as a handful of other MMA shows that the media giant holds rights to in Sweden.

What makes Sasivanij’s journey as a commentator especially unique and quite frankly beautiful, is that the BJJ practitioner was basically passed the torch by the legendary Waldo Zapata – whom he was training under – shortly before Zapata’s tragic passing due to cancer.

Sasivanij had no prior experience in sport’s broadcasting before commentating the UFC for Viaplay, and despite nailing the job right away he really didn’t see himself ending up in that position before Zapata identified his talent and urged him to apply. Since then, he’s continued to grow in the role and is now leaning further into the MMA media space as a podcaster too. With his laid back and humble personality he has easily endeared himself to the Swedish MMA fans.

2. Sebastian Vendel-Martinez

Commentator, ring announcer and journalist – Sebastian Vendel-Martinez is a man of many talents. As a former amateur martial artist with a decade in MMA journalism he combines this with his love for writing, researching and performing, be it for his Sci-Fi YouTube channel or stand up comedy, to tell the story of the fight unfolding for the fans.

The 34-year-old might be best known for his colorful commentating on Swedish MMA promotion Fight Club Rush, but has also worked with organizations like Muay Thai For Life, Superior Challenge, Zone Pro League and Wolf Fight Promotion.

His first taste of commentary was over a decade ago for (now defunct) South Swedish promotion Trophy MMA, following it up with boxing commentary in Ystad Fight Night, before focusing more wholeheartedly on journalism, until his return to commentary in 2019.

On the international scene, Vendel-Martinez is appreciated for his high-level commentating on various IMMAF tournaments all around the world as well as Brave CF, French promotion Hexagone MMA and landmark Finnish promotion CAGE.

1. Waldo Zapata

One of the biggest profiles in Swedish combat sports is the one and only Waldo Zapata.

To the Swedish mainstream audience, Zapata is perhaps best known as a proficient UFC commentator for Viaplay, where he commented on some of the absolute biggest fights in the promotion’s history.

The popular martial artist, gym owner and commentator sadly passed away at 46, in November 2022, but few people left a bigger mark on Swedish combat sports than him.

Read more: Top 20 Best Swedish UFC Fights Ever: We Have the Complete List!

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