Tom Niinimäki
Tom Niinimäki (born July 25, 1982) is a Finnish professional mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career. Early career. Niinimäki began training in kickboxing at the age of 15, and mixed martial arts at 19. He made his professional MMA debut in October 2002 in his native Finland. He assembled an impressive record of 9-2 in the first two years of competition, with all but one of his wins coming by way of submission or TKO. Beginning in 2005, Niinimäki hit a rough patch where  he lost three fights in a row. After one more win in 2007, he retired from competition, saying that he had "lost his fire" to compete. After a two and a half year hiatus, Niinimäki returned to the sport in February 2010. Since his return he has been unbeaten and maintained an 11-fight winning streak before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ultimate Fighting Championship. Niinimäki made his promotional debut against Rani Yahya on November 30, 2013 at . He won the fight via split decision. Niinimäki was expected to face Thiago Tavares on May 31, 2014 at UFC Fight  Night 41. However, on May 14, Tavares pulled out of the fight due to thigh injury and was replaced by Niklas Bäckström. Niinimäki lost the back-and-forth fight in the first round by submission. Niinimäki next faced Chas Skelly on August 23, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 49. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. On November 7, 2014 Niinimäki announced that he had signed a new four-fight contract with UFC. Niinimäki was expected to face Rony Jason on December 20, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 58. However, Jason pulled out of the bout on  December 10 and was replaced by promotional newcomer Renato Moicano. Niinimäki lost the bout via submission in the second round. On January 27, 2015, MMAFighting.com reported that Niinimäki had been released from his UFC contract along with four other fighters. Post-UFC career. In late April 2016, Niinimäki was announced as one of the fighters that had signed on with new European promotion European Fighting Challenge. Personal life. Before moving to Boca Raton, Florida, Niinimäki lived his entire life in Turku, Finland and worked as a bouncer in several nightclubs. Management and sponsors. In the early 2012, Niinimäki signed a  two-year management contract with Authentic Sports Management. After closing the deal, the management rapidly sent Niinimäki to train at Imperial Athletics gym with a mixed martial arts group later known as Blackzilians. In January 2014, Niinimäki moved to Florida to be able to continue training with Blackzilians at Jaco Hybrid Training Center. In May 2014, online gambling company Unibet announced a sponsor deal with Niinimäki.