Replacing his countryman Andreas Gustafsson, Theodor Berggren steps in on short notice to make his UFC debut against Daniil Donchenko this Saturday at UFC Baku.
Following a brief amateur career that saw him go 2-1, Berggren turned pro in 2021 and also initially went 2-1 before putting together a four-fight win streak that was halted by back-to-back losses. Those two losses stand as the most recent setbacks of his career, as Berggren rebounded with his first Cage Warriors victory last October before he returned to Sweden’s Fight Club Rush in February and preserved his 100% finishing rate with a third-round stoppage.
A southpaw, Berggren likes to distract opponents with his lead hand in order to create openings for his kicks. He’ll regularly land hard low kicks and frequently throw up his rear leg to the head, as well as attack the body with round kicks and the occasional front kick.
Although he prefers to do most of his work from southpaw, “Simba” is comfortable switching to orthodox stance off of both his kicks and punches during striking exchanges. Berggren strongly prefers to be the aggressor when striking and will come forward with straight punches and right hooks, opening up more if his opponent covers up or retreats to the fence.
The 26-year-old is also quick to start throwing knees if he can grab ahold of an opponent’s head and is willing to try and take things to the ground to change things up. He prefers to shoot for double leg takedowns but will switch to a single leg attempt if needed, and on the ground he’ll try to establish a dominant position in order to unload with heavy ground and pound or look to take his opponent’s back.
“Simba” is susceptible to be being taken down himself, especially later on in fights if his cardio starts to fade. He does like to use nasty elbows while defending takedown attempts along the fence, and when he is taken down and has enough energy he does a good job of trying to explode up or quickly work to his knees, although the latter option does leave him open to having his back taken.
Berggren’s cardio struggles and inability to defend repeated takedown attempts were his undoing in his two most recent losses, and it’s ultimately what made me omit him from my “Top 5 Prospects From Sweden” article. That being said, he did take a more measured approach before stopping Daniel Battaglia, and he ultimately outlasted Abulatip Samedov in his most recent outing after being largely out grappled for most of the fight.
I can understand why the UFC elected to sign Berggren given his finishing pedigree, but Donchenko is going to be a seriously difficult test for his UFC debut. The fight almost certainly won’t require the judges, and we’ll see if “Simba” is able to pull off the upset as one of a number of UFC debutants scheduled to compete at UFC Baku.
