David Jacobsson interview: MMA fighter and promoter headlines his own show on October 1

David Jacobsson. Photo: Stefan Romare – Frontkick

Halmstad’s David Jacobsson is one of Sweden’s most exciting MMA fighters right now. Since making his professional debut back in October 2016, the 26-year-old made a name for himself with big wins at Bulldog Fight Night and Brave CF, as well as headlining Fight Club Rush.

In addition to his successful fighting career, Jacobsson is busy as the mastermind behind local Swedish MMA organization, Wolf Fight Promotion.

On October 1, WFP will be back at Halmstad Arena with their fourth event, and this time Jacobsson is not just organizing the show – he will also fight in the headliner as he takes on Bulgarian veteran Veselin Dimitrov.

In an exclusive interview with Frontkick, “Fat Boy Slim” confidently claims that the experienced and tank-like Dimitrov won’t be the biggest threat of succeeding in front of his hometown crowd.

”It’s a comfortable fight, even though he’s big as hell and dangerous. My biggest challenge is to promote and fight at the same event. Maybe I’ll have too much to do, get burned out and lose the fight,” Jacobsson says with a big laugh.

So, what’s the key to promote and fight at the same event?

”I don’t know until it’s done.”

What the 26-year-old does know however, is that it requires a lot of planning and keeping steady routines, with early mornings and late nights in the gym – day in and day out. The workaholic also admits to letting go of some promotional tasks because of his fight, and strongly emphasizes that it’s a great team working on the event.

Jacobsson’s original plan was actually to fight at WFP 1 back in 2019. However, he was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury.

”Thank God I tore my cruciate ligament,” Jacobsson says. “I had so much to do back then, that I was close to burning myself out completely.”

The best atmosphere in Scandinavia

From the start, the idea behind Wolf Fight Promotion was to create a platform where up-and-coming Swedish fighters could compete locally, instead of getting “thrown to the wolves” in unevenly matched bouts abroad.

According to Jacobsson, the organization also offers something unique to Scandinavia’s MMA scene. Where other promotions care more about broadcasting, Wolf Fight Promotion is all about giving the crowd the best possible live experience.

”We have the best atmosphere in Scandinavia. Our cheap VIP-seats put the loudest and most excited fans right next to the cage, which guarantees a great atmosphere in the arena. The feeling is completely different from all other Swedish MMA events. The crowd is cheering on every fighter, regardless of which city they come from.”

Which fighters will get the biggest pop from the crowd in October then?

”The heavyweights Kevin Munje and Mehdi Abadli. They are two enormous giants who have no idea what scoring points is. That fight will be a banger for sure,” Jacobsson says and continues:

”Another fan favourite is Oskar Carlsson. When he fights it feels like he’s not concerned about his own health, which makes his corner extremely nervous, but the crowd loves it. He’s facing Josef Al-Zubeidy who’s a great striker and looks like a Greek God.”

”I performed at 20 percent of my capacity”

The hometown hero comes into the main event at Halmstad Arena with back-to-back wins and tons of confidence.

In his last fight back in February, Jacobsson secured a somewhat controversial unanimous decision win as he clashed with hard-hitting lightweight Rahmads Stromanis in the FCR 11 main event. Even though he won the fight, ”Fat Boy Slim” is unhappy with his performance, which he calls his all-time worst.

David Jacobsson in his fight against the tough Rahmads Stromanis. Photo: Stefan Romare – Frontkick

”I performed at 20 percent of my capacity, but won two rounds clearly because of my grappling. I was totally stupid. Instead of throwing straight punches that I’ve practiced for over a year, I threw elbows. I went for like 340 submissions and didn’t follow my gameplan at all,” Jacobsson says.

He also had a rough weight cut that gave him stomach problems for several months after the bout.

”If I ever fight at lightweight again it has to be in a big organization. Otherwise, it’s welterweight from now on.”

David Jacobsson is hooked on boxing

During the last two years, “Fat Boy Slim” has focused a lot on his boxing with head coach Paul Akofely, since his grappling game is already solid. Nowadays, the MMA fighter has actually become so hooked on boxing that he made his first amatuer apperence in the squared circle earlier this year.

In classic Jakobsson spirit, David and his younger brother Ola decided to put the gloves on to compete against two skilled amatuer boxers, even though they had just been sick and were out of shape.

”I coached Ola in his fight, then took his helmet and went into the ring and boxed,” Jakobsson says with a big laugh. ”I would do it again for sure, but then I have to be in better shape. I don’t give a shit if I win a boxing fight, there’s no prestige, just fun. As long as my opponent’s head hurts more than mine.”

For now though, he turns his focus back to the cage as Wolf Fight Promotion 4 is getting closer. For Jacobsson there’s no doubt in his mind that he will extend his professional record to 11-3 on October 1.

“It’s going to be fantastic to put on a show for my hometown fans.”

WFP 4 will be broadcasted live on BJJTV.se. For more information about the upcoming event, check out Wolf Fight Promotion on Instagram!