Finnish standout Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpää rebounded from her first professional loss with an impressive submission win tonight at Fight Night 10 in Lappeenranta, South Karelia, Finland. Kankaanpää finished Ukrainian prospect Alyona Rassohyna with an armbar in the night’s co-main event.
Kankaanpää put on one of her best performances to date in tonight’s fight and she was relentless with her attacks on the ground. Elsewhere on the card, Vuokko Katainen and Kate Jackson fought to a Split Draw, and Suvi Salmimies earned a Unanimous Decision win over Clemence Schreiber.
Kankaanpää (9-1-1) and Rassohyna (10-3-0) traded punches and body kicks in the opening minute until Kankaanpää scored a takedown near the cage. She dropped punches from the top and fought off a Rassohyna triangle choke attempt. More punches scored for Kankaanpää as the round progressed, but Rassohyna remained active from her back and she spun into an inverted triangle choke. Kankaanpää escaped and landed some solid right hands. Rassohyna secured a guillotine choke from the bottom and Kankaanpää pulled her head free just before the bell.
Kankaanpää was very aggressive in round two and she took Rassohyna down after catching a kick. From the top, Kankaanpää passed to side control and landed a series of hard knees to the body. She continued to target Rassohyna’s midsection with elbows and knees and moved to a top-side crucifix. When a keylock attempt failed to yield success, Kankaanpää switched to a tight arm-triangle choke. She passed Rassohyna’s guard and eventually mounted her, but Rassohyna was game and she refused to tap out. Finally, after dropping a series of elbows, Kankaanpää spun into an armbar that forced Rassohyna to submit at the 4:10 mark of round two.
Tonight’s victory was an important one for Kankaanpää, whose close decision defeat to Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood at Invicta FC 7 kept her out of contention for The Ultimate Fighter 20, which begins filming later this year. Kankaanpää remains one of the top female strawweights in the world and she will likely return to Invicta FC before the end of 2014.
Earlier on the card, Katainen (2-1-1) and late replacement Jackson (4-2-1) fought to a competitive Split Draw after three rounds. The first two rounds were predominantly contested in the clinch and both women managed to score trip takedowns. Katainen worked for an armbar from her back, but Jackson held top position on the ground and the bout was still very much up for grabs after ten minutes. In round three, Katainen took Jackson’s back and threatened with a rear-naked choke, but her late rally was not quite enough to take the victory and the fighters had to settle for a Split Draw.
In her pro debut, Salmimies (1-0-0) picked up a hard-fought Unanimous Decision win over Schreiber (0-4-0), who stepped into the fight on short notice. Schreiber got off to a strong start in round one by dropping Salmimies and targeting her legs with some vicious kicks. However, Salmimies began to find her range with punches and kicks in rounds two and three and she scored with some nice right hooks. Schreiber slowed down as Salmimies kicked away at her lead leg and Salmimies’s late offence was enough to earn her the close decision victory.
(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)