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Katja Kankaanpää

Creator credit recorded on the linked source page: My Thai28 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Katja Kankaanpää

Finnish karate-trained fighter who held a jiu-jitsu purple belt by 2015, took ADCC European bronze in 2012 and won the Invicta strawweight title in 2014.

Biography

Katja Kankaanpää is a retired Finnish mixed martial artist who won the Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight title, the women's 115-pound division, in 2014. Alongside her MMA career she took part in submission wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments, placed third in the women's openweight division at the 2012 ADCC European Championships, and by 2015 held a purple belt in jiu-jitsu. She was born in 1981 in Seinäjoki, in the Southern Ostrobothnia region of Finland, and came to martial arts at about 15 through Goju-ryu karate. Submission wrestling and other disciplines followed. When she retired in 2015, Sherdog described her as a karate stylist and noted her purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She competed for MMA Seinäjoki and Team Botnia Punishment, and Wikipedia names Marcelo Giudici and Jarkko Latomäki as her trainers. On the grappling side, she entered the ADCC European Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where a BJJEE report dated 8 September 2012 lists her third among the women in the openweight category. In a preview published in August 2012, MMA Rising gave her record as 6-0 ahead of an upcoming fight against England's Simona Soukupova at Botnia Punishment 12 in Seinäjoki. Sherdog reports that she went undefeated through her first nine professional bouts, and her first defeat came against Joanne Calderwood in December 2013. At Invicta FC 8 on 6 September 2014 she faced Stephanie Eggink for the vacant strawweight belt. According to the promotion, she finished Eggink with a D'Arce choke in the fifth round. In January 2015 Invicta announced that its champion had signed a new contract and reported that she was eager to defend the title many times. Wikipedia lists her as Nordic Female Fighter of the Year for 2014. The first defense, on 24 April 2015, ended in a loss when Livia Renata Souza caught her in a triangle choke. In September 2015, at Invicta FC 14 in Kansas City, she lost a unanimous decision to DeAnna Bennett and a day later said she was retiring from MMA. Sherdog gave her final professional record as 10-3-1.

Sources for this profile

  • Wikipedia, article on Katja Kankaanpää, read 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Katja Kankaanpää was born in 1981 in Seinäjoki, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland.

      Where in the source: Infobox — Born row; lead paragraph

      Accessed:

    • She is a Finnish former mixed martial artist who competed as a strawweight.

      Where in the source: Lead paragraph — Finnish former mixed martial artist

      Accessed:

    • She began martial arts at about age 15 with Goju-ryu karate, later added submission wrestling and other disciplines, and competed in submission wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments alongside her MMA career.

      Where in the source: Lead paragraph — started martial arts training in her teens

      Accessed:

    • Wikipedia gives the date of her Invicta strawweight title win over Eggink as 6 September 2014 at Invicta FC 8, and names the first title defense against Livia Renata Souza on 24 April 2015, which she lost by triangle choke.

      Where in the source: Career — Invicta Fighting Championships paragraphs and record table

      Accessed:

    • Wikipedia lists MMA Seinäjoki and Team Botnia Punishment as her teams and names Marcelo Giudici and Jarkko Latomäki as trainers; it does not say which of them taught her jiu-jitsu.

      Where in the source: Infobox — Team and Trainer rows

      Accessed:

    • Wikipedia lists Nordic Female Fighter of the Year 2014 among her awards.

      Where in the source: Championships and accomplishments — Awards

      Accessed:

  • BJJEE, quick report on the ADCC European qualifiers in Slovenia, dated 8 September 2012.(opens in a new tab)

    • A BJJEE report dated 8 September 2012 on the ADCC European Championships in Ljubljana lists her third in the female openweight category, with her club written as MMA Seijäjoki.

      Where in the source: Female Openweight results list — third place entry

      Accessed:

  • Sherdog.com staff, report on her retirement after Invicta FC 14, dated 13 September 2015.(opens in a new tab)

    • In September 2015 Sherdog described her as a karate stylist who also holds a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on her background — purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu

      Accessed:

    • She announced her retirement from MMA the day after a unanimous-decision loss to DeAnna Bennett at Invicta FC 14 in Kansas City, finishing with a 10-3-1 record according to Sherdog.

      Where in the source: Photo caption and second paragraph — announced her retirement; record of 10-3-1

      Accessed:

    • Sherdog reports she went undefeated through her first nine pro bouts, lost to Joanne Calderwood in December 2013, then submitted Stephanie Eggink to take the vacant Invicta 115-pound belt, before losing to Livia Renata Souza and Bennett.

      Where in the source: Closing two paragraphs — undefeated through the first nine bouts

      Accessed:

  • Invicta FC news release by Rob Tatum, 17 January 2015 (read via Internet Archive copy).(opens in a new tab)

    • Invicta FC reported in January 2015 that she won the 115-pound title at Invicta FC 8 with a fifth-round D'Arce choke of Stephanie Eggink, and described her as a 33-year-old Finnish fighter.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraphs — captured the 115-pound title; Finnish fighter

      Accessed:

    • The Invicta release says she trains out of Team Botnia Punishment.

      Where in the source: Third paragraph — trains out of Team Botnia Punishment

      Accessed:

    • The same release announced that the reigning champion signed a new contract with Invicta in January 2015, saying she was motivated to defend the title many times.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph and quote — signed a new contract; defending my title

      Accessed:

  • MMA Rising, preview by Robert Sargent, 21 August 2012.(opens in a new tab)

    • MMA Rising previewed in August 2012 her upcoming fight against England's Simona Soukupova at Botnia Punishment 12 in Seinäjoki, giving her record as 6-0 and describing her as unbeaten.

      Where in the source: First paragraph — faces Simona Soukupova at Botnia Punishment 12

      Accessed:

Lineage

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Open lineage