Salla Simola

Salla Mari Simola is a Finnish grappler and a jiu-jitsu black belt under Pedro Duarte , who worked extensively with Miika Suvanto at FinnFighters Gym. Simola first made waves in the sport’s International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) league as a colored belt, where she earned European titles in the Gi and No-Gi rulesets while representing the FinnFighters Gym & Hilti BJJ coalition. Salla Simola would later become one of the main athletes of her division in the professional circuit with medals in the IBJJF and ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club).

Salla Simola Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Salla Mari Simola

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlson Gracie >  Murilo Bustamante > Pedro Duarte > Salla Simola

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2024)
• 2nd Place ADCC Europe & Middle East Trials (2024)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2024)
• 3rd Place IBJJF European Championship NOGI (2024**)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2022 purple)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship NOGI (2023** brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2023 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF European Championship (2023 brown)

Main Achievements (Juvenile):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2019)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2019**)
• 2nd Place IBJJF World Championship (2019*)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Closed Guard

Weight Division: Meio-Pesado (74,00 kg / 163.00 lbs)

Team/Association: Hilti BJJ

Salla Simola Biography

Salla Simola was born in February 2002 in Hanko, Finland, where she spent her formative years. When she reached 16, Simola moved to Turku to attend a high school that offered special privileges to young athletes.

A sporty child from the start, Salla practiced many activities early including athletics, ballet, tennis, and jiu-jitsu, which she started at age 6 at BJJ Hanko in her hometown. Although she was most successful in the no-gi ruleset later in life, her first few years were exclusive to the gi and it was only when she moved to FinnFighters in Turku, under the tutelage of Miika Suvanto, that she shed the gi for the first time.

Tony Bäckman was the instructor responsible for Salla’s tuition in Hanko, awarding all her belts up to blue. While in Turku, Simola’s tuition was taken over by Jarkko Mäkelä, who promoted the Finn athlete to the purple and brown belts, before Pedro Duarte who led the black belt ceremony on June 29, 2023.