Soren ‘The True Viking’ Bak is a 26-year-old Danish fighter competing in the lightweight division. Having turned professional in 2012, Bak has since compiled an impressive 12-1 record. In 2017, he was signed by Cage Warriors and has gone 3-0 in the English promotion. This has earned him a title shot for the vacant lightweight belt against Paddy Pimblett.
Strengths
Top Game
Bak’s biggest asset is probably his stifling top game. Most of his wins come as a result of him getting the fight to the ground and trapping his opponents there until he either gets a submission or the round ends.
The Dane’s guard-passing skills are top notch. Bak spends very little time stuck in his opponent’s guard and usually passes very quickly either to half guard or side control. This makes it very difficult for his opponents to rest during the grappling exchanges. From side control, Bak often steps into the mount; should his opponent attempt to scramble, Bak is always ready to take the back.
Back Control
When Bak takes the back, it is bad news for his opponent. He is very good at utilising a body triangle in order to restrict his opponent’s breathing and scrambling ability. From back control, Bak throws punches and elbows to soften up his opponents and create an opportunity to sink in the rear naked choke. This was on full display when he faced Martin Stapleton.
Forward Pressure and Takedowns
In most of his fights, Bak likes to march forward and put on the pressure. The pressure complements Bak’s use of takedowns well: he shoots for both double legs as well as single leg takedowns off caught kicks. Much like his ground game, Bak’s pressure is suffocating and will wear on his opponents as the fight progresses.
Fight IQ
Bak seems to understand that his best chance to win a fight is on the ground. Thus, Bak is relentless with his takedown attempts and often shoots for one within the first thirty seconds of the round. This is an auspicious sign as we have seen many talented grapplers fall in love with their striking and forget what brought them to the dance in the first place.
Power
Although ‘The True Viking’ does his best work on the ground, he has shown that he cannot be underestimated on the feet either. His fight with Alex Rodrigues mainly played out on the feet with both fighters trading heavy leather until Bak landed a crushing overhand right for a knockout.
Weaknesses
Hittable
Like many grapplers, Bak’s striking is still somewhat rudimentary. His only loss came by knockout after getting caught with his chin up against Aleksi Mantykivi. Against Alex Rodrigues, Bak was also caught by hard shots due to being too willing to ‘stand and bang’ instead of reverting to his grappling. However, Bak seems to have been working on his striking lately and looked comfortable on the feet against the heavy-handed Alexander Jacobsen.
Stamina
Bak’s pressure-heavy style is gruelling for his opponents but it also requires a lot of stamina from Bak himself. In his fight against Aleksi Nurminen, Bak dominated the first two rounds with his grappling. However, in the third round, Bak’s takedowns became sloppy and predictable which allowed Nurminen back into the fight. Nonetheless, Bak survived the round and even controlled Nurminen on the ground in the last minute of the fight. ‘The True Viking’ didn’t have much trouble in the third round against Scott Clist later on in his career, so perhaps he has learned how to pace himself but his stamina is still worth keeping an eye on, especially in a five-round fight.
Future
Bak’s style is extremely effective on the European regional scene. This is largely due to the severe lack of western Europeans with a high-level ground game, which makes it easy for Bak to show off his superior wrestling. Looking at his next fight, I believe that Bak will be able to beat Paddy Pimblett for the Cage Warriors lightweight title. Both fighters are solid grapplers but Bak is the more traditional of the two whilst Pimblett relies on scrambles and opportunistic submissions.
I see Bak securing top control for large portions of the fight, perhaps as a result of failed submission attempts from Pimblett. This will likely be scored more favourably by the judges than Pimblett’s exciting but wild grappling style which may see him give up position to go for a submission. Bak does have to be wary of the Scouser’s submissions from his back but I believe that he is more than savvy enough on the ground to avoid being submitted. In short, I see ‘The True Viking’ having more ways to win the fight, either by decision or a finish, whilst ‘The Baddy’ will likely need to finish Bak in order to get the win.
Should he win against Pimblett, Bak is likely to get signed by the UFC. This is where Bak’s skill set will be put to the test. Bak will have to face battle-tested grapplers from many types of backgrounds in the UFC which make for interesting fights as Bak might not be able to take the more decorated ground fighters down and will be forced to strike for longer than he is perhaps comfortable with.
Overall, Bak is a great grappler with some nice takedowns and some power on the feet. His ceiling is somewhat of an unknown because we have yet to see him face a fighter with a strong ground game or exemplary takedown defence. However, this test might have to wait until Bak is in the UFC.