Santeri Lilius
Santeri Lilius built a coaching career between Finland and Spain, from a small Lahti gym to ADCC and Scramble Academy Spain.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Scramble Academy Spain, current homepage(opens in a new tab)
His current academy is in Torremolinos, Spain.
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He now leads Scramble Academy Spain in Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol.
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BJJ Heroes, Santeri Lilius(opens in a new tab)
Santeri Lilius is the Finnish Roger Gracie black belt who co-founded LiliusBarnatt Martial Arts in southern Spain.
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The biography gives his birth as 26 June 1991 in Kärkölä, Finland, and says he grew up in Lahti.
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He played competitive ice hockey as a child before taking up karate at fifteen.
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Roger Gracie promoted him to black belt in 2015.
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After studying at the Sports Institute of Finland, he accepted a coaching job in southern Spain and later opened LiliusBarnatt with Luke Barnatt after saving for five years.
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BJJ Eastern Europe, Santeri Lilius interview, 11 February 2014(opens in a new tab)
He said he began BJJ at sixteen in Lahti at Kamppailulajikeskus, with Marko Kallioinen and Raimo Posti.
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He recalled a group of roughly ten students who trained hard and improved quickly.
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He moved to Spain in 2009, trained with Surunion Team and met future coach Pablo Cabo.
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By 2014 he divided training between Barreto Team in Lahti and Roger Gracie Málaga with Cabo.
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He described winning three matches by submission before losing the 2014 European adult brown-belt middleweight final on points to Yago de Souza.
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He described an aggressive game built around berimbolos, spider guard and leg attacks, supported by constant technical study.
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He valued visiting different Spanish academies and training with varied partners to keep his game sharp.
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Lilius identifies himself as Finnish.
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Richard Presley, Santeri Lilius Interview, Attack The Back, 20 May 2014(opens in a new tab)
He said he tried BJJ while recovering from an MMA-training injury, then found that he preferred it to MMA.
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Pablo Cabo promoted him to brown belt shortly after the 2013 Europeans, when he was twenty-one.
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In 2014 he admired Leandro Lo’s dynamic top game, Buchecha’s attacking style and Michael Langhi’s spider guard.
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His advice to beginners emphasized persistence and mastering fundamentals before advanced techniques.
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Jyrki Nurminen, Huippuvalmennusta yli maarajojen, Ikuinen Peruskurssi, 12 May 2020(opens in a new tab)
He said he qualified as a sports instructor at the Sports Institute of Finland in 2014.
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He connected IMPROVE to his own difficulty finding guidance on systematic training and turning BJJ into a profession between eighteen and twenty-two.
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Launched in 2020, IMPROVE offered individualized coaching, training plans, video analysis, private lessons and remote problem-solving.
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For an early beginner client during gym closures, he designed a training plan and explained how to assemble a dummy from household materials.
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Ffion Davies joined the project with online lessons and video analysis; Lilius offered longer programmes and, in some cases, near-daily contact.
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He said he coached in Finnish, English and Spanish.
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Jyrki Nurminen, Santeri Lilius aikoo puristaa maailmanmestarin naaman ruttuun, 13 February 2022(opens in a new tab)
Preparing for Jacob Couch in 2022, he identified guard passing as a strength and said he had been refining leg attacks and wrestling.
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He credited training with leg-lock specialists Kamil Wilk and Mateusz Szczeciński as useful preparation.
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He recalled Ffion Davies, Darragh O’Conaill, Taylor Pearman and Tom Halpin training at his Spanish gym during the pandemic period.
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He described the pandemic as financially difficult for the gym and expressed relief that the business survived.
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He said that knowing an opponent’s strengths shaped his awareness while he continued to train all aspects of grappling.
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ADCC, second European/Middle East/African Trial2022 official results(opens in a new tab)
He won the professional men’s under88kg division at the second 2022 ADCC European, Middle East and African Trial in Poland.
Where in the source: PROFESSIONAL MALE -87.9KG and qualified athletes -88KG
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Jyrki Nurminen, ADCC2022 Las Vegas: Santeri Lilius, 14 September 2022(opens in a new tab)
Before the 2022 Worlds he chose a training camp in Poland and said the rounds there had been valuable preparation.
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He welcomed the chance to test himself against the leading grapplers and said that losing after his best performance would carry no shame.
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IBJJF, European No-Gi2022 championship report(opens in a new tab)
He won the 2022 IBJJF European No-Gi adult black-belt heavyweight title in Rome.
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IBJJF, World No-Gi2022 official results(opens in a new tab)
IBJJF lists him third in the 2022 World No-Gi male adult black-belt heavyweight division.
Where in the source: MALE / ADULT / BLACK / HEAVY202.00LB
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ADCC, first European/Middle East/African Qualifier2023 official results(opens in a new tab)
He again won the under88kg qualifying division at the first ADCC European, Middle East and African Trial in September 2023.
Where in the source: PRO ADULT MEN -87.9KG and qualifying list
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FloGrappling, Santeri Lilius match results(opens in a new tab)
Flo’s match records show ADCC Worlds losses to Lucas Barbosa in 2022, Gabriel Almeida in 2024 and Chris Wojcik in 2026, all at under88kg.
Where in the source: Year-headed2022,2024,2026 result tables with date/WL/opponent/weight/event columns
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Scramble Brand, Scramble Academy Worldwide(opens in a new tab)
Scramble describes its Málaga academy as a partnership with Lilius offering gi, no-gi, wrestling and children’s BJJ, with classes from beginner to competitor level.
Where in the source: Scramble Academy Málaga section
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BJJ Eastern Europe, Emilia Tuukkanen interview, 7 May 2014(opens in a new tab)
In 2014 Emilia Tuukkanen called Lilius her main teacher and said she turned to him for technical questions and direct feedback.
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Miko Hytönen, Chokes and More, current biography(opens in a new tab)
Miko Hytönen’s own biography says he has trained and taught alongside Lilius since 2016 and received his black belt from him in 2023.
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