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

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competed in the strawweight division. She is a former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion. Kankaanpää started martial arts training in her teens when she was 15 years old with Goju-ryu

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

. Later, she had interest about combat sports by training

submission wrestling Submission wrestling, also known as submission grappling, submission fighting, or simply grappling, is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and submission techniques. It is a hybrid discipline that incorporates elem ...

and other disciplines. In addition to her career in MMA, she competed in submission wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments.

Mixed martial arts career

Early 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, Aisling Daly 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 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 Atomweight by Fight ...

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 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 on December 7, 2013. In a close decision (29:28, 29:28, 29:28), she was defeated by Joanne Calderwood. 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 in the fourth in a

Triangle choke A triangle choke, or sankaku-jime (三角絞) in judo, is a type of figure-four chokehold that encircles the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle. Applying pressure using both legs and ...

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.

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 and cultures that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" ...

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

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Invicta Fighting Championships ** Strawweight Champion (One time) ** Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Stephanie Eggink *Awards **Nordic Female Fighter of the Year 2014 **Sportswoman of 2014 (MMA)

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 competes in the Flyweight division. A professional since 2012, she has previously competed for Bellator MMA, Invicta Fighting Championships, and Ultimate ...

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

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2–1 , Lívia Renata Souza , Submission (triangle choke) , Invicta FC 12: Kankaanpää vs. Souza , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 3:58 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1–1 , Stephanie Eggink , 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 , Joanne Calderwood , 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 , Aisling Daly , Decision (unanimous) , Cage Warriors: 51 , December 31, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, , - , Draw , align=center, 6–0–1 , Simona Soukupova , Draw (split) , BP 12 – Botnia Punishment 12 , March 23, 2012 , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; , formerly ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Ostrobothnia. Seinäjoki is located in the western interior of the country and along the Seinäjoki (river), River Seinäjoki. The population of Sein ...

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

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 current ...

{{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 Sportspeople from Seinäjoki 21st-century Finnish sportswomen