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Salla Simola

Finnish grappler Salla Simola started jiu-jitsu at six in Hanko and in 2024 won what FloGrappling called Finland's first black belt World title.

Biography

Salla Simola is a Finnish Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Hanko. In 2024, her first full year at black belt, she won the medium-heavy division at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship in Las Vegas, which FloGrappling reported as Finland's first black belt World title. Her favourite position, according to BJJ Heroes, is the closed guard, and it shaped two of her biggest no-gi finals. Hanko to Turku Simola was born in February 2002 and grew up in Hanko. She tried athletics, ballet and tennis as a child, and started jiu-jitsu at six at BJJ Hanko. Her teacher there, Tony Bäckman, gave her every belt up to blue. Those early years were spent entirely in the gi. In the summer of 2018, aged 16, she left Hanko for Turku. The move was about training: Turku offered better conditions for the sport, and she enrolled at the Kerttuli sports high school, which supports young athletes. At Finnfighters' Gym she trained without the gi for the first time, under coach Miika Suvanto. In a 2019 profile by the Turku region sports academy, she called jiu-jitsu a varied sport that keeps presenting new challenges, and said the best parts were her training group at Finnfighters' Gym and the competitions themselves. By then she was already collecting titles. At the European Championships in Lisbon in January 2019 she won two juvenile blue belt golds, in the heavy division and in the open class. She also held youth European titles, several Finnish youth titles and two Finnish adult titles, and was heading to the World Championship in Long Beach aiming to win it. She also came away with a juvenile World Championship medal. Coloured belts In Turku, Jarkko Mäkelä took over her instruction and promoted her to purple and then brown belt. At the 2020 Finnish championships in Vantaa, the 18-year-old entered her first competition as a purple belt in a division that mixed purple, brown and black belts. She won the over-64 kg class and the open class, meeting her clubmate Satu Jokela in both finals. As a coloured belt she won IBJJF European titles both with and without the gi. BJJ Heroes records her purple belt European gold in 2022, and a World Championship silver and a European bronze at brown belt in 2023. Black belt Pedro Duarte led her black belt ceremony on 29 June 2023. Her debut in the new division came at the 2023 Rome International Open, where she won both her matches by submission and took the women's open class. Later that year she reached the 72 kg final of the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship, losing it to Elizabeth Mitrovic 6-2 on points. In 2024 she took bronze in the medium-heavy division at the IBJJF World Championship in the gi, held in Long Beach that June, and finished second at the ADCC Europe and Middle East Trials, where Nia Blackman beat her 5-0 on points in the over-65 kg final. At the No-Gi World Championship in Las Vegas she reached the medium-heavy final by beating Kennedy Franklin with a straight ankle lock. In the final against Caitlin Huggins she got to her closed guard, the action slowed, and Huggins was penalized repeatedly for passivity until she was disqualified. In the open class Simola beat Maria Vicentini with a kimura before losing to Anabel Lopez 2-0 on points. A season as the favourite In 2025 Simola won bronze at the IBJJF Pan Championship in the gi, both in her division and in the open class, where she beat Beatrice Jin and Amanda Schurtz before Gabrieli Pessanha stopped her in the semifinal. In April she beat Aurélie Le Vern by referee decision at ADXC 9 in Paris. At the gi World Championship she won bronze again, this time at 74 kg, beating Nia Blackman and Maria Malyjasiak before Thamara Ferreira caught her with a toe hold in the semifinal. Without the gi she won two major titles. At the European No-Gi Championship she took the 71 kg division, finishing Jessika Torttila with an inside heel hook in the semifinal and beating Ane Svendsen on points in the final. IBJJF later described Svendsen as a familiar opponent whom Simola had faced many times, with wins going both ways. At the Pan No-Gi Championship her final against Fernanda Cristo lasted about 40 seconds: from closed guard she secured a kimura and rolled into mount, where Cristo tapped. She went into the 2025 No-Gi World Championship as the top seed at medium-heavyweight and the reigning champion. Helena Crevar submitted her with a rear-naked choke in the quarterfinal, ending her title defence, and Nadia Frankland beat her on points in the open class quarterfinal. Crevar also beat her that year at ADXC 11, with a guillotine. IBJJF included her among its ten leading adult female no-gi athletes of the 2024/2025 season. Club and team name Simola's club in Turku is Finnfighters' Gym, which names her on its jiu-jitsu page as the club athlete with international success in the 2020s, and Finnish press describes her as a Finnfighters' Gym athlete. In IBJJF results she is registered as Hilti BJJ Turku, and BJJ Heroes describes her team as a coalition of FinnFighters Gym and Hilti BJJ.

Sources for this profile

  • BJJ Heroes, "Salla Simola" (athlete profile).(opens in a new tab)

    • Salla Mari Simola is a Finnish grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph of the athlete page — "is a Finnish grappler"

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    • Simola was born in February 2002 in Hanko, Finland, where she grew up.

      Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph (birth month, year and town)

      Accessed:

    • As a child Simola tried several sports, including athletics, ballet and tennis, and began jiu-jitsu at age six at BJJ Hanko in her hometown.

      Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph, sentence on her first sports and starting age

      Accessed:

    • In Hanko she was taught by Tony Bäckman, who awarded all her belts up to blue.

      Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph, sentence naming Tony Bäckman

      Accessed:

    • At 16 Simola moved to Turku to attend a high school that supported young athletes.

      Where in the source: Biography section, first paragraph, sentence on the move to Turku

      Accessed:

    • Her early years in the sport were in the gi only; she first trained without the gi after moving to FinnFighters in Turku, where she was coached by Miika Suvanto.

      Where in the source: Biography section, second paragraph, sentence on FinnFighters and Miika Suvanto

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    • In Turku Jarkko Mäkelä took over her instruction and promoted her to purple and brown belt; Pedro Duarte led her black belt promotion on 29 June 2023.

      Where in the source: Biography section, third paragraph — "black belt ceremony on June 29, 2023"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes lists closed guard as Simola's favourite position.

      Where in the source: Fact list under "Favorite Position/Technique"

      Accessed:

    • As a coloured belt Simola won IBJJF European titles in both gi and no-gi while representing the FinnFighters Gym and Hilti BJJ coalition.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph, sentence on her coloured-belt European titles

      Accessed:

    • Conflicting accounts

      BJJ Heroes lists juvenile results of first place at the 2019 IBJJF World Championship, second place in the 2019 World absolute, and first place in weight and absolute at the 2019 European Championship.

      Where in the source: Fact list under "Main Achievements (Juvenile)"

      Accessed:

    • BJJ Heroes lists coloured-belt results of first place at the 2022 IBJJF European Championship at purple belt, and second place at the 2023 World Championship and third place at the 2023 European Championship at brown belt.

      Where in the source: Fact list under "Main Achievements (Colored Belts)"

      Accessed:

    • At the 2023 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship Simola reached the final of the 72 kg division and lost to Elizabeth Mitrovic on points, 6-2.

      Where in the source: Fight history table, row ID 46116 (NoGi World, 72KG, stage F, 2023)

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    • BJJ Heroes lists second place at the 2024 ADCC Europe & Middle East Trials; its fight table shows she lost that final to Nia Blackman on points, 5-0, in the over-65 kg division.

      Where in the source: "Main Achievements" list and fight history row ID 47452 (ADCC EU Trials, O65KG, F, 2024)

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    • BJJ Heroes' fight table for the 2024 No-Gi World Championship shows Simola beat Kennedy Franklin by straight ankle lock in the 72 kg semifinal and Caitlin Huggins by disqualification in the final; in the absolute she beat Maria Vicentini by kimura before losing to Anabel Lopez on points, 2-0.

      Where in the source: Fight history rows 56308 and 56309 (World NoGi, 72KG, SF and F, 2024); rows 56258 and 56266 (ABS)

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    • BJJ Heroes lists third place at the 2025 IBJJF World Championship (gi); its fight table shows she lost the 74 kg semifinal to Thamara Ferreira by toe hold after wins over Nia Blackman and Maria Malyjasiak.

      Where in the source: "Main Achievements" list (3rd Place World Championship 2024 / 2025) and fight history rows 60012, 60015, 60019

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    • BJJ Heroes' fight table shows Simola beat Aurélie Le Vern by referee decision at ADXC 9 in 2025 and lost to Helena Crevar by guillotine at ADXC 11 later that year.

      Where in the source: Fight history rows 58850 (ADXC 9, 70KG, 2025) and 64221 (ADXC 11, 2025)

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    • BJJ Heroes' fight table for the 2025 No-Gi World Championship shows Simola lost to Helena Crevar by rear-naked choke in the 71 kg quarterfinal and to Nadia Frankland on points in the absolute quarterfinal, so she did not defend her 2024 title.

      Where in the source: Fight history rows 64960 (World NoGi, 71KG, 4F, 2025) and 64900 (ABS, 4F, 2025)

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  • Turun Seudun Urheiluakatemia, "Urheilulukio ja brasilialainen jujutsu toivat Salla Simolan Turkuun", 30 April 2019.(opens in a new tab)

    • Simola moved from Hanko to Turku in summer 2018 to train Brazilian jiu-jitsu in better conditions and enrolled at the Kerttuli sports high school; she had started the sport at age six.

      Where in the source: Article of 30 April 2019, first two paragraphs — "muutti Turkuun viime kesänä"

      Accessed:

    • In 2019 Simola described jiu-jitsu as a varied sport that keeps offering new challenges, and named her training group at Finnfighters' Gym in Turku and competing as the best parts of it.

      Where in the source: Article of 30 April 2019, third paragraph ("Lajina BJJ on Sallan mukaan monipuolinen")

      Accessed:

    • At the European Championships in Lisbon in January 2019 Simola won two golds, in the juvenile blue belt open class and in the heavy division; by then she also held youth European titles, several youth Finnish titles and two adult Finnish titles, and was preparing for the World Championships in Long Beach with the aim of winning.

      Where in the source: Article of 30 April 2019, fourth paragraph — "Lissabonin EM-kilpailuissa tammikuussa"

      Accessed:

  • Ikuinen Peruskurssi (Jyrki Nurminen), "Salla Simola antoi todellisen myrskyvaroituksen BJJ SM 2020 -kilpailuissa", 29 August 2020.(opens in a new tab)

    • At the 2020 Finnish Brazilian jiu-jitsu championships in Vantaa, the 18-year-old Simola, in her first competition as a purple belt, won the over-64 kg division, open to purple, brown and black belts, and the open class, beating clubmate Satu Jokela in both finals.

      Where in the source: Report of 29 August 2020, second and third paragraphs — "ensimmäiset kilpailut purppuravöisenä"

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF News, "Rome International Open Results: CheckMat Wins Team Title For The Second Time", 26 October 2023.(opens in a new tab)

    • Simola made her black belt debut at the 2023 Rome International Open, where she won both her matches by submission and became the women's open class champion, representing Hilti BJJ Turku; she said she was looking forward to the European No-Gi Championship that weekend.

      Where in the source: Third paragraph of the report published 26 Oct 2023 — "make my black belt debut"

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF News (Danny O'Donnell), "2024 IBJJF Worlds Black Belt Results and Recap", 5 June 2024.(opens in a new tab)

    • At the 2024 IBJJF World Championship (gi) Simola took bronze in the adult female black belt medium-heavy division, listed as Salla Mari Simola of Hilti BJJ Turku; Thamara Ferreira Silva won the division.

      Where in the source: Results list under "ADULT FEMALE BLACK MEDIUM HEAVY", fourth line

      Accessed:

  • FloGrappling (Joe Gilpin), "Full Results: The Final Day Of IBJJF No-Gi Worlds", 15 December 2024.(opens in a new tab)

    • In the medium-heavy final of the 2024 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship the match slowed once Simola reached her closed guard; her opponent Caitlin collected passivity penalties until she was disqualified, and Simola won Finland's first black belt World title.

      Where in the source: Final-day live report, medium-heavy paragraph — "Salla wins Finland's first black belt World title"

      Accessed:

  • Turun Sanomat (Jori Liimatainen), "Turkulainen Salla Simola voitti brasilialaisen jujutsun MM-kultaa", 15 December 2024.(opens in a new tab)

    • Turun Sanomat reported that Simola, 22, of the Turku club Finnfighters' Gym, won gold in the women's medium-heavy division at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu World Championships in Las Vegas, after World bronze in Long Beach that June; it listed three youth European titles, two adult European golds, a youth World silver and several Finnish championship medals.

      Where in the source: News item of 15 December 2024, first two paragraphs — "naisten keskiraskaassa sarjassa"

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  • FloGrappling (Caden Senn), "Pan IBJJF Championships 2025 Adult Black Belts Results", 24 March 2025.(opens in a new tab)

    • At the 2025 IBJJF Pan Championship (gi) Simola won bronze in both the adult female black belt medium-heavy division and the open class; in the open class she beat Beatrice Jin and Amanda Schurtz before losing to Gabrieli Pessanha in the semifinal.

      Where in the source: Official results for Open Class and Medium Heavy (fourth line of each), and Open Class bracket rounds

      Accessed:

  • Wikipedia, "Aurelie Le Vern".(opens in a new tab)

    • Aurélie Le Vern lost to Salla Simola by decision at ADXC 9 in Paris on 19 April 2025.

      Where in the source: Career section, 2025 paragraph — "at ADXC 9 in Paris on April 19, 2025"

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  • FloGrappling (Joe Gilpin), "Live Updates: Final Day Of Black Belt At The 2025 IBJJF No-Gi Pans", 5 October 2025.(opens in a new tab)

    • At the 2025 IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship Simola beat Gabriela Barosso in the medium-heavy semifinal, then won the final against Fernanda Cristo in about 40 seconds: from closed guard she locked a kimura and rolled into mount for the tap. In the open class she lost to Maria Barboza in the quarterfinal.

      Where in the source: Finals blog, "Women's Medium-Heavy" entry — "Submission win in 40 seconds"; bracket lists for Medium-Heavy semifinals and Open Class quarterfinals

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, "IBJJF 2025 European NoGi Championship Results".(opens in a new tab)

    • Salla Simola (Finland) won the women's 71 kg division at the 2025 IBJJF European No-Gi Championship.

      Where in the source: Champions list "IBJJF 2025 Euro No-Gi Champions", line 71KG/F

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    • At the 2025 IBJJF European No-Gi Championship Simola beat Jessika Torttila by inside heel hook in the women's medium-heavy semifinal and Ane Svendsen on points in the final.

      Where in the source: Match list under "FEMALE, MEDIUM-HEAVY", SF and F lines naming Salla Simola

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF News, "2025 No-Gi World Championships | Black Belt Preview", 10 December 2025.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's 2025 No-Gi Worlds preview made Simola the top seed at medium-heavyweight as reigning No-Gi World champion, noted her Pans and European gold medals that season, and described Ane Svendsen as a familiar opponent whom she had met many times with wins on both sides.

      Where in the source: Section "Female Medium-Heavyweight" — "Her familiar foe, Ane Svendsen"

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF News (Jon Medina), "Top 10 Adult Female & Male No-Gi Rankings for the 2024/2025 Season", 10 December 2025.(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF named Salla Mari Simola among its top 10 adult female no-gi athletes of the 2024/2025 season.

      Where in the source: List under "ADULTE FEMALE", tenth name

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, "Athlete Results: Salla Simola".(opens in a new tab)

    • IBJJF's athlete page lists Salla Simola as a black belt with the academy Hilti BJJ Turku.

      Where in the source: Athlete card under the name — "Hilti BJJ Turku" and belt "Black"

      Accessed:

    • Simola competes for Hilti BJJ Turku in IBJJF events.

      Where in the source: Athlete card under the name — "Hilti BJJ Turku"

      Accessed:

  • Finnfighters' Gym, "Brasilialainen jujutsu" (club page).(opens in a new tab)

    • Finnfighters' Gym's own page on its Brazilian jiu-jitsu programme names Salla Simola as the club athlete who has had success in international competition in the 2020s.

      Where in the source: Section "Kilpamenestys ja valmennus", last sentence of first paragraph

      Accessed:

Competition results

Recorded tournament results, newest first
YearEventResultDivision
2025IBJJF No-Gi European ChampionshipSource: bjjheroes.comNo-giVerifiedGoldNo-giVerified
2024IBJJF World No-Gi ChampionshipSource: bjjheroes.comNo-giVerifiedGoldNo-giVerified

Lineage

No teaching connections are shown on this page.

Open lineage