Weight Class: Lightweight
Record: 8-2
Age: 29
Height: 6’0’
Born in: Switzerland
Training out of: Fight Temple
Combined opponent’s record (at the time they fought): 61-28-1
Key wins: George Hardwick, Aiden Lee
Swiss lightweight Daniel Konrad scored the biggest win of his career last weekend with a stunning first-round submission of former Cage Warriors titleholder George Hardwick.
Making his pro debut as a welterweight in 2015, Konrad immediately set the tone for his fighting career with a first-round triangle choke over Pascal Kloser while competing in his native Switzerland. His next fight also ended via first-round finish but came more than two years after his pro debut, and in 2018 he was submitted by Jesse James Kosakowski while competing under the Reality Fighting banner in Connecticut.
“Swiss Army Knife” rebounded with a 35-second armbar win but had to wait another two years before using the same submission to defeat Jeremie Fischer in the second round. That was followed by another two-year layoff before he joined Austria’s Cage Fight Series, where Konrad won his promotional debut via first-round KO before he claimed the CFS welterweight belt with a 43-second armbar.
Konrad went to war with James Sheehan in a fight for the vacant Cage Warriors welterweight title in his promotional debut but was ultimately submitted in the fourth round. Dropping down to lightweight, the 29-year-old submitted Bellator and longtime Cage Warriors veteran Aiden Lee before his latest victory over Hardwick at Cage Warriors 199.
As a quick glance at his record will indicate, Konrad ideally like to get his fights to the ground and end things via submission. He’s never gone the distance in his 10 pro bouts, submitting six opponents to go along with two wins via strikes.
Four of his victories have come via armbar, but Konrad will also jump on opportunities to take the back of his opponents to try and sink in a rear naked choke. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt is an active guard passer from top position, where he’ll land nasty elbows and hammer fists while trying to open up opportunities for submission attempts.
He’s certainly not the prettiest striker in the world and can find himself off balance when he misses, but “Swiss Army Knife” typically does a good job of punching in combination and also does a good job mixing up his strikes to the head and body of opponents. He has enough power to force opponents to respect his often unorthodox approach, and during clinch exchanges he’ll immediately look to land short elbows or knees if he doesn’t immediately start looking for a takedown.
It’s unfortunate that Konrad has experienced so many long layoffs during his career, but it looks his move to Cage Warriors and the lightweight division may have been major turning points for him. He’s got an exciting fighting style that fans can easily get behind, and an impressive win over a highly-rated fighter in Hardwick will ensure there are plenty of eyes on him for what will likely be another high-profile matchup in his next outing.