At just 24 years old and a record of 20 wins and 3 losses, Marcus Vänttinen is pegged as one of the next Nordic fighter to breakthrough to the UFC.

The 6’4″ in (193 cm) light heavyweight fighter is a veteran M1, Fight Festival and Cage promotions, and looking to start another win streak.

The Fight Factory Porvoo fighter has already garnered much attention by putting together an 8 fight run to kick-off his career, and then another  recent 11 fight dominant stance before running into top Slovakian brawler Attila Vegh in his most recent bout in May.

The fighter known as “Caveman” enters the ring this Saturday at Fight Festival 31 in Helsinki against the lanky 6’7″ (201cm) Frenchman Malik Merad.

In an exclusive interview, MMA Viking talks to Vänttinen about his upbringing, nickname, recent loss, and upcoming fight.

MMA Viking : Can you tell us a bit about your upbringing and how you discovered combat sports.
Vänttinen : I was born and raised in Porvoo, Finland, a small town east of Helsinki. I competed in all sorts of sports as a child, including track & field, ice hockey, soccer and orienteering. I started training traditional budo sports at the age of 13 because some of my friends trained there as well. Then I switched to Muay Thai when I was 15 and added bjj when I turned 16.

MMA Viking : Your nickname is Caveman, but the name does not seem fitting since you speak like an academic, and fluently switch between English, Swedish, and Finnish. How did you get this nickname?
Vänttinen : Finnish mma blogger Joona Pylkäs (beatingsfromthenorth.blogspot.com) came up with this name because I’m known here in Finland for my diet, which consists of mostly organic produce and meat i.e. “Paleolithic” foods.

MMA Viking : You are the top of lists that identify elite European fighters that should be in the UFC/Strikeforce or other larger promotions. When do you feel you will be ready for the next stage?
Vänttinen : Soon I hope 🙂 I think that I need a few good wins after my recent loss to get to the next stage.

MMA Viking : We saw you in Sweden helping Alexander Gustafsson get ready for his UFC 133 bout, and you have also spent time in the UK training this summer. Can you tell us about your recent travels and training?
Vänttinen : Alexanders coach Andreas Michael contacted me and told me that they were planning a training camp in Sweden before Alexs next fight and wanted me to join. I said ok and the camp turned out to be a real success: two weeks of hard training with lots of sparring and wrestling drills at a nice location outside of Stockholm. After that I took a few days of rest and then I headed to London Shootfighters gym with my friend, featherweight fighter Joni Salovaara for a 10 day camp. There we worked a lot on takedowns and takedowndefence which has been a weakness in my game.

Both camps were well spent time and I will for sure use the tricks I learned there in my future fights.

MMA Viking : Seems like a Finnish fighter will appears again in the UFC with Juha-Pekka Vainikainen, Tom Niinimaki, Anton Kuivanen, you and others performing at a top level. What would this mean for MMA in Finland?
Vänttinen : Of course it would mean that MMA would grow even faster than it is right now here.

MMA Viking : What can we expect in your upcoming bout at FF 31 against Malik Merad?
Vänttinen : Well, he’s a good striker and he’s longer than me, which isn’t something I’m used to. But as I said earlier, I learned some new tricks during the summer and expect to win this fight very quickly!

Below are videos of Vanttinen against former UFC veterans:

Marcus Vanttinen vs Ron Faircloth – Fight Festival 29

Marcus Vänttinen vs Edwin Dewees – Fight Festival 30

Vänttinen : I’d like to thank all my fans, my training partners, my trainers Jaakko Dahlbacka, Mika Pietilä and Jarno Nurminen, my manager Petteri Maunu, my family and my sponsors: Finsec, Twinsfinland, Eximius Foods, Spartan gear, Bodytonic Porvoo, Revoco, JRA-sähkö, Laprip, RL rakennus ja saneeraus, Paalupiste and Seurahovi night.

UPDATE

After a successful bout on Saturday, with Vänttinen scoring a second-round TKO over Malik Merad, the Finn annouced he will be entering the Bellator Light Heavyweight tournament beginning in 2012. In an exclusive with for MMA Viking, Vänttinen said “This is something I’ve been waiting for and I think I have a good chance of succeeding there.” about the opportunity.

For more information about Fight Festival 31, www.fightfestival.com.  “Like” MMA Viking on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates on Nordic MMA.