Ilir Latifi is a well-known Swedish mixed martial artist fighting for the UFC in the Light Heavyweight division, professionally participating in MMA since May 17, 2008, who is also a two-time national wrestling champion.
Gael best famous as the top-ranked MMA fighter in Light Heavyweights in Europe and currently fighting for the UFC Light Heavyweight division.
Latifi was born on July 28, 1983, in Malmö, Sweden but grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. His parent's information is not yet revealed. He has an older brother Arben. Ilir holds Swedish nationality and belongs to the Albanian descent. His religion is Christianity and zodiac is Leo. He was interested in martial arts from a very young age and played soccer alongside Swedish football superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic. There are no details available about Monfils’ educational background.
Latifi started his career as a heavyweight. His first professional MMA fight was on May 17, 2008, with the Real Pain Challenge promotion. Next, he fought future UFC heavyweight Christian Colombo on September 6, 2008, as amateur/semi-pro. Latifi won the fight by submission due to a north-south choke in the first round. His last heavyweight fight was on October 25, 2008, at Superior Challenge 2, where he defeated Roman Mihocka by knockout in the second round. He then started as a profession in light heavyweight. He holds a notable win over MMA- and kickboxing veteran Tony Lopez. He became the first Superior Challenge Light Heavyweight Champion after defeating Jorge Oliveira for the vacant belt on October 6, 2012, at Superior Challenge 8. Latifi made his UFC debut on April 6, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 9. He holds numerous wins and fame in the UFC as well. Latifi won the fight against veteran Cyrille Diabaté on March 8, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 37 and night after night he kept on winning.
He was a winner on July 19, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 46, on July 18, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 72, on January 17, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 81, on March 5, 2016, at UFC 196, on September 9, 2017, at UFC 215. and many more. On February 24, 2018, at UFC on Fox 28, he won against Ovince Saint Preux after a double knockdown. On May 30, 2019, Latifi was forced to pull out of June 1, 2019, UFC Fight Night 153 due to a back injury and the bout was canceled. He made his return on August 10, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 156 which he lost. He is still in the ring for more challenges ahead. His early career success has led to Latifi being ranked as one of the top Light Heavyweights in Europe.
He is two times national wrestling champion. He has won several championships that include, Superior Challenge Light Heavyweight Championship,2003 ADCC European Championship, 2001 Nordic Championship Junior -97 kg (213 lbs) Grecco-Roman Championship,2005 Swedish National Light Heavyweight Grecco-Roman Championship, etc. In 2016, Latifi was awarded role model of the year and received the most votes for the people's choice award in the annual Swedish martial arts awards ceremony Kampsportsgalan.
Ilir Latifi net worth is estimated at $407,500. His salary, houses, cars and their worths are still not in public record.
Currently, he is assumed to be single since he has never given any clues inside his personal life and relationship.
Monfils has a height of 5 feet 10 inches (1.8 m) and weighs around 93 kg or 205 lbs. His both hair and eye color are dark blacks. His other body measurement is not yet available. He has a straight sexual orientation.
Monfils is active on social media and has gathered a huge number of followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. He has more than 17.5k followers on Twitter with id @Latifimma.In addition, he has over 179k followers on Instagram that go by id ilirlatifi. Similarly, his Facebook page has more than 216.8k followers who have the id @Latifimmai.
His nickname is The Sledgehammer. Lirr Latif and Zlatan were childhood buddies. His brother Arben "the king" Latifi, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt influenced him to get into Martial arts.