Katja Kankaanpää

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Katja Kankaanpää
BornKatja Kalliokoski
(1981-06-30) June 30, 1981 (age 42)
Seinäjoki, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland
Other namesKiller Bunny
ResidenceSeinäjoki, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland
NationalityFinnish
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Weight115 lb (52 kg; 8 st 3 lb)
DivisionStrawweight
StyleKarate, BJJ, Submission wrestling
Fighting out ofSeinajoki, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland
TeamMMA Seinajoki / Team Botnia Punishment
TrainerMarcelo Giudici, Jarkko Latomäki
RankPurple belt in BJJ
Years active2010–2015
Mixed martial arts record
Total14
Wins10
By knockout1
By submission4
By decision5
Losses3
By submission1
By decision2
Draws1
Other information
Website[1]
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Katja Kankaanpää (Finnish: [ˈkɑtjɑ ˈkɑŋkɑːmpæː]; born June 30, 1981) is a Finnish former mixed martial artist who competed in the strawweight division. She is currently signed with Invicta FC.[1] Kankaanpää started martial arts training at her teens when she was 15 years old with Goju-ryu karate. Later she had interest about combat sports by training submission wrestling and other combat arts. Katja leads the Nordic (all Skandinavia) strawweight rankings and Finnish women, all weight classes MMA rankings.[2][3] On January 2, 2015 she was awarded 'Nordic Female Fighter of the Year'.[4] The same month, Finnish sports journalists honored her as 'Sportswoman of 2014', category MMA.[5] In addition to her career in MMA, the BJJ purple belt competes in submission wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments.[6] As of September 13, 2015 she retired from MMA.

Mixed martial arts career[edit]

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.[7] On May 17, 2014 Katja returned to the cage at Lappeenranta Fight Night 10 in Finland where she defeated Ukrainian Alyona Rassohyna via submission in round 2. This fight took place outside her InvictaFC contract.

Invicta Fighting Championships[edit]

According to her manager, Kankaanpää took the fight against Daly in Cage Warriors to get Invicta's attention.[8] Kankaanpää was offered a contract with Invicta Fighting Championships immediately after she emerged victorious from the fight with Daly.[8] Invicta initially wanted longer deal, but eventually agreed with Kankaanpää and closed a three-fight contract in early 2013.[8]

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.[9] The bout was named "Fight of the Night".[10] On January 17, 2015 Invicta FC announced the prolonging of the contract for 3 more fights.[11]

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 and had to tap out.[12]

Kankaanpää fought DeAnna Bennett in Kansas City on September 12 in the co-main event of Invicta FC 14.[13] Kankaanpää lost the fight via controversial unanimous decision and subsequently announced her retirement from MMA the following day.[14]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

Mixed martial arts[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Katja is married; her maiden name was Katja Kalliokoski. She studied electronic business and is currently working as a media person in charge.[15]

Mixed martial arts record[edit]

Professional record breakdown
13 matches 10 wins 3 losses
By knockout 1 0
By submission 4 1
By decision 5 2
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 10–3–1 DeAnna Bennett Decision (unanimous) Invicta FC 14: Evinger vs. Kianzad September 12, 2015 3 5:00 Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Loss 10–2–1 Lívia Renata Souza Submission (triangle choke) Invicta FC 12: Kankaanpää vs. Souza April 24, 2015 4 3:58 Kansas City, Missouri, United States Lost the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship.
Win 10–1–1 Stephanie Eggink Submission (D'Arce choke) Invicta FC 8: Waterson vs. Tamada September 6, 2014 5 2:03 Kansas City, Missouri, United States Won the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship. Fight of the Night.
Win 9–1–1 Alyona Rassohyna Submission (armbar) Lappeenranta Fight Night 10 May 17, 2014 2 0:49 Lappeenranta, Finland
Loss 8–1–1 Joanne Calderwood Decision (unanimous) Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith December 7, 2013 3 5:00 Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Win 8–0–1 Juliana Carneiro Lima Decision (unanimous) Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson April 5, 2013 3 5:00 Kansas City, Missouri, United States Invicta FC Debut.
Win 7–0–1 Aisling Daly Decision (unanimous) Cage Warriors: 51 December 31, 2012 3 5:00 Dublin, Ireland
Draw 6–0–1 Simona Soukupova Draw (split) BP 12 – Botnia Punishment 12 March 23, 2012 3 5:00 Seinäjoki, Finland
Win 6–0 Mei Yamaguchi Decision (unanimous) BP 11 – Kankaanpää vs. Yamaguchi March 23, 2012 3 5:00 Seinäjoki, Finland
Win 5–0 Karla Benitez Decision (unanimous) Cage 16 – 1st Defense October 8, 2011 2 5:00 Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland
Win 4–0 Ekaterina Tarnavskaja Submission (rear-naked choke) Cage 15 – Powered by Reezig April 29, 2011 1 2:12 Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland
Win 3–0 Niina Aaltonen Submission (D'Arce choke) BP 9 – Animal Factory October 9, 2010 2 2:12 Vaasa, Ostrobothnia, Finland
Win 2–0 Dalia Grakulskyte TKO (punches) BP Fight Night 2 – Rumble in Amarillo April 17, 2010 1 2:13 Vaasa, Ostrobothnia, Finland
Win 1–0 Paulina Suska Decision (unanimous) OF – Oulu Fight 2 March 27, 2010 2 5:00 Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland Pro Debut

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Katja Kankaanpää Signed to Invicta".
  2. ^ "MMA Viking's Official Nordic Rankings". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  3. ^ "Fightsport MMA Rankings". Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  4. ^ "2014 Female Fighter of the Year".
  5. ^ "Lajien parhaat urheilijat 2014" (in Finnish). January 13, 2015.
  6. ^ "Nordic's Top-Ranked Katja Kankaanpää".
  7. ^ "Interview with Katja Kankaanpaa at themmacorner". Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
  8. ^ a b c "Invicta FC kiinnitti Katja Kankaanpään" (in Finnish). fightsport.fi. February 12, 2013.
  9. ^ "Invicta FC 8 Results: Waterson Batters Tamada, Kankaanpaa Submits Eggink".
  10. ^ "Invicta FC 8 bonuses. Kankaanpää vs Eggink named Fight of the Night".
  11. ^ "Invicta Strawweight Champion Katja Kankaanpää Inks New Contract". January 17, 2015.
  12. ^ "Kankaanpaa to defend title April 24". March 19, 2015.
  13. ^ "Invicta FC 14 fight card announced with new main event". August 10, 2015.
  14. ^ "Katja "Killer Bunny" Kankaanpää Announces Retirement". September 13, 2015.
  15. ^ "Personal site of Katja Kankaanpaa at facebook".

External links[edit]

Awards and achievements
Preceded by 2nd Invicta FC Strawweight Champion
September 6, 2014 – April 24, 2015 		Succeeded by
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