As if Fight Club Rush 16 didn't already have huge headlining fights awaiting, the promotion just added a welterweight war between Sweden's Andreas "Bane" Gustafsson (8-1) and Finland's Toni Lampinen (8-4)!
Since his days in the Swedish National Amateur MMA Team Gustafsson has been a fighter to watch, winning a silver medal in the 2018 World Championships.
"Bane" made his pro debut at FCR 4 in January of 2019, bulldozing Norwegian Ole Magnor en route to a submisson victory.
Gustafsson continued to line up increasingly more impressive wins over the likes of former UFC fighter Amilcar Alves and Serbian standout Miro Jurkovic. Following the win over Jurkovic Gustafsson made his debut in European powerhouse promotion KSW against former Olympic wrestler Damian Janikowski. The fight was incredibly close, though the Swede ended up losing a split decision after three hard fought rounds.
The Swede took a two year break from MMA following that loss, returning in the main event of FCR 14 against Polish brute Lukasz Dziudzia. The two embodied the term "clash of the titans", as both fighters were sent crashing to the canvas, causing the earth around them to shake. It was Gustafsson, however, who proved to be the better fighter, securing a second round TKO win.
In his most recent outing Gustafsson returned to KSW, finishing David Hosek via TKO, beginning a new win streak.
Finnish finisher Lampinen has also taken the IMMAF route as an amateur, successfully representing his nation in the 2015 European Championships.
Since his pro debut in 2016 Lampinen has established himself as one of the most dangerous welterweights in his home country, not needing the judges to earn wins over the likes of Patrik Pieteilä and Aleksi Savolainen.
As a main staple of Finlands number one promotion CAGE MMA Lampinen has finished all but one of his wins with half of his victories being secured in the very first round. In his most recent outing Lampinen finished Norwegian fighter Joachim Tollefsen via second round TKO.
This high-level clash will surely produce fireworks and the fans are likely to be the biggest winners in this Nordic derby!