Katja Kankaanpää (; born June 30, 1981) is a Finnish former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competed in the strawweight division. She is currently signed with

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is currentl ...

. Kankaanpää started martial arts training at her teens when she was 15 years old with Goju-ryu

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

. Later she had interest about combat sports by training

submission wrestling Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission through the ...

and other combat arts. Katja leads the Nordic (all Skandinavia) strawweight rankings and Finnish women, all weight classes MMA rankings. On January 2, 2015 she was awarded 'Nordic Female Fighter of the Year'. The same month, Finnish sports journalists honored her as 'Sportswoman of 2014', category MMA. In addition to her career in MMA, the

BJJ Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

purple belt competes in submission wrestling and

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

tournaments. As of September 13, 2015 she retired from MMA.

Mixed martial arts career

Her debut fight against Paulina Suska at Oulu Fight 2, was won by unanimous decision. In her next three fights versus Dalia Grakulskyte, Niina Aaltonen and Ekaterina Tarnavskaja Kankaanpää was able to achieve an untimely victory by submission or TKO. The next five fights went the whole distance with four unanimous decision wins against Karla Benitez,

Mei Yamaguchi , formerly known by her ring name , is a Japanese female mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Her former nickname comes from the V1 armlock wrestling move. Yamaguchi currently fights as a lightweight in the Jewels promotion. She has a notable vi ...

Aisling Daly Aisling Daly ( ; born 24 December 1987) is a retired Irish female professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the UFC women's strawweight division. Daly had been a professional MMA competitor since 2007. Daly is well known for her ...

and Juliana Carneiro Lima. Only against Simona Soukupova she fought to a split draw. On May 17, 2014 Katja returned to the cage at Lappeenranta Fight Night 10 in Finland where she defeated Ukrainian

Alyona Rassohyna Alyona Rassohyna (born June 11, 1990) is a formerly Soviet now Ukrainian female mixed martial artist who competes in the Atomweight and Strawweight divisions of the ONE Championship. From October 2020 till December 2020, she was ranked #9 Female ...

via submission in round 2. This fight took place outside her InvictaFC contract.

Invicta Fighting Championships

According to her manager, Kankaanpää took the fight against Daly in Cage Warriors to get Invicta's attention. Kankaanpää was offered a contract with

Invicta Fighting Championships Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is currentl ...

immediately after she emerged victorious from the fight with Daly. Invicta initially wanted longer deal, but eventually agreed with Kankaanpää and closed a three-fight contract in early 2013. She made her first fight for the organisation at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson where she defeated Brazilian Juliana Carneiro Lima by unanimous decision. The first defeat of her career Kankaanpää suffered at

Invicta FC 7 This is a list of events that Invicta Fighting Championships have held since their inaugural event, Invicta FC 1: Coenen vs. Ruyssen. The promotion has held 55 events as of November 2022. Invicta FC 51: Tennant vs. Bernardo Invicta FC 51: Tennan ...

on December 7, 2013. In a close decision (29:28, 29:28, 29:28), she was defeated by

Joanne Calderwood Joanne Wood (; born 23 December 1986) is a Scottish professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai champion who competed in the Flyweight (MMA), Women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Biography Wood first sta ...

. On September 6, 2014 Kankaanpää fought for the vacant strawweight title against Stephanie Eggink at Invicta FC 8. She defeated Eggink via submission in round 5 and became the second InvictaFC strawweight Champion. The bout was named "Fight of the Night". On January 17, 2015 Invicta FC announced the prolonging of the contract for 3 more fights. Katja's first title defense took place at Invicta FC 12: Kankaanpää vs. Souza on April 24, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. After dominating the first three rounds, she got caught by Brazilian

Lívia Renata Souza Lívia Renata dos Santos Souza (born March 11, 1991), also known as Livinha Souza, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Strawweight division. She has previously competed in the UFC and Invicta Fighting Championships, where ...

in the fourth in a Triangle choke and had to tap out. Kankaanpää fought DeAnna Bennett in Kansas City on September 12 in the co-main event of Invicta FC 14. Kankaanpää lost the fight via controversial unanimous decision and subsequently announced her retirement from MMA the following day.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Strawweight Champion (One time) ** Fight of the Night (One time) vs.

Stephanie Eggink Stephanie Eggink (born July 12, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist, who currently competes in the Strawweight division of the all-female promotion Invicta FC. A professional competitor since 2011, Eggink holds a record of 4–3, and is t ...

*Awards **Nordic Female Fighter of the Year 2014 **Sportswoman of 2014, category MMA

Personal life

Katja is married; her

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

was Katja Kalliokoski. She studied electronic business and is currently working as a media person in charge.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–3–1 ,

DeAnna Bennett DeAnna Danielle Bennett (born November 18, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Strawweight division in Invicta FC since 2014. As of December 13, 2022, she is #4 in the Bellator Women's Flyweight Rankings. Background ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Invicta FC 14: Evinger vs. Kianzad , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2–1 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) , Invicta FC 12: Kankaanpää vs. Souza , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 3:58 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1–1 ,

, Submission (D'Arce choke) , Invicta FC 8: Waterson vs. Tamada , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 2:03 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1–1 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Lappeenranta Fight Night 10 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:49 , Lappeenranta, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0–1 , Juliana Carneiro Lima , Decision (unanimous) , Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson , April 5, 2013 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , Invicta FC Debut. , - , Win , align=center, 7–0–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Cage Warriors: 51 , December 31, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

, , - , Draw , align=center, 6–0–1 ,

Simona Soukupova Simona Soukupova is a Czech mixed martial artist who competes at Invicta FC in the Atomweight division and has fought 3 times for the organization. Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 6–6–1 , Svetlana Gotsyk , Decision (sp ...

, Draw (split) , BP 12 – Botnia Punishment 12 , March 23, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , BP 11 – Kankaanpää vs. Yamaguchi , March 23, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Karla Benitez , Decision (unanimous) , Cage 16 – 1st Defense , October 8, 2011 , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Ekaterina Tarnavskaja , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Cage 15 – Powered by Reezig , April 29, 2011 , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:12 , Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Niina Aaltonen , Submission (D'Arce choke) , BP 9 – Animal Factory , October 9, 2010 , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:12 , Vaasa, Ostrobothnia, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Dalia Grakulskyte , TKO (punches) , BP Fight Night 2 – Rumble in Amarillo , April 17, 2010 , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:13 , Vaasa, Ostrobothnia, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Paulina Suska , Decision (unanimous) , OF – Oulu Fight 2 , March 27, 2010 , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland , , -

References

External links

*
Katja Kankaanpää
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kankaanpaa, Katja 1981 births Living people Finnish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Finnish submission wrestlers Finnish female karateka Finnish female mixed martial artists Strawweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Gōjū-ryū Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Seinäjoki Sportspeople from South Ostrobothnia