If everything goes like a 19 year old Sani Brannfors has planned, in three years she will become the second Finnish female free fighter in the UFC.
– It is clear to me that I will get there. That’s an achievement in itself, but I’m not quite satisfied with getting there. I’m going to stay there, he says.
Brännfors from Oulu has evidence to support his words.
In November 2024, Sani Brännfors celebrated the first adult world championship of his career at the amateur freestyle competition IMMAF.
With the most recent World Cup gold, she became the only female free skater who has celebrated the world championship in the under-18, under-21 and adult categories.
– My self-confidence comes from the fact that I go to training every day and do sensible and hard work.
Making hard goals clear is Brännfors’ way of creating pressure for himself. The athlete wants to show himself that he believes in what he’s doing, but also to bring openness to Finnish sports culture by saying his goals out loud.
– Finns are very hard working. But what Finns lack is that we can see the work that has been done, and then go get what we want.
Difficult start
Brännfors describes that he was an insecure and volatile problem teenager who went his own way.
– I didn’t get along so well with my mother then, but we had a lot of arguments, Brännfors recalls.
When he started freestyle at the age of 15, everything seemed technical and complicated. Frustrated, and even the coach laughed good-naturedly, Brännfors says about his first time in training for the sport.
Expectations had been higher, as Brännfors had a martial arts background in Brazilian jujutsu.
The passion was ignited despite the difficulties – or maybe even because of them.
– I wanted to show people and myself that I can do something here.
Brännfors had only been practicing the new sport for a few months when the coach suggested him the first match. At that point, training became more goal-oriented and Brazilian jujutsu was left aside. I had found my kind.
Shortly after the victorious opening match, Brännfors was given the opportunity to compete in the World Championships.
– I thought that if I can become world champion, then I guess I will continue with the sport.
Dropped out of high school
When Brännfors returned from a training camp in Poland as a 17-year-old high school student, he told his father right away on the car ride home from the train station that he would quit school and concentrate on sports one hundred percent.
The idea of sports as a profession started creeping into my mind already earlier that year at the first Junior World Championships, which ended with a golden celebration.
– During the summer vacation, I noticed how much more energy I had during training and after training. All my studies were related to sport. I found that this kind of lifestyle would suit me.
Brännfors studied for two years at a sports high school. However, he felt that the joint exercises aimed at high school individual athletes, such as running training, did not support his goal-oriented freestyle training.
– My parents were the only people who really encouraged me.
The mother and father announced that they would help their daughter as much as possible and promised that she would be allowed to live at home as long as she wanted.
– The most important thing for me was their encouragement and the fact that they are involved in it.
Sani Brännfors’ everyday life revolves around training.
A typical day includes two sports training, and possibly also gym training or additional training in between. Brännfors is coached by Matias Pahkala.
“I’m not violent”
– No freestyle athlete who really succeeds at a hard level is someone who is just angry enough and hits hard. They are very smart people, Brännfors emphasizes.
The sport, which drew features from different martial arts, requires not only hard sportsmanship, but also tactics. If you make a mistake, it can go badly, says Brännfors.
The athlete himself rarely hears prejudices about his sport. Her mother, on the other hand, is often told about the horror or violence of freestyle matches if she talks about her daughter.
– He knows me and knows that I am not violent in any way. I am very passionate about the sport and think of it as a technical and tactical sport, says Brännfors.
The Finnish promise is most attracted by the mental side of the sport. The mind plays a big role in a stressful competitive situation.
– My big goal is to show that you don’t have to be the most talented, even genetically, but you have to be the best at that moment, in those big pressure situations.
Brännfors is at his best in the ring when he can be relaxed under pressure. He seeks that by thinking about his successful performances and his emotional states during them.
Before the race, he visualized what would be the worst that could happen, and how he would be able to get out of the situation.
Grateful to his mother
Even the obsessive approach to free play has brought the right kind of self-confidence to Brännfors. At the same time, he has understood what he wants from the rest of his life.
– I want to be a good person and develop myself. Of course, everything is related to the fact that it would help me in a freestyle match. I would say that I am a mature and self-aware person for this age.
When the pain-loving teenager has grown into a mature and shy pre-adult, the relationship with the mother also improved.
Another of his big goals in life is connected to his mother: in addition to achieving the UFC championships, he wants to buy his mother a stable.
– He really likes horses and animals, and he has owned horses. But he has had so much work and has had to take care of me and my sister that he has had to give up his hobbies, Brännfors explains.
– One of my biggest goals is that one day I would be able to give him all of it back. That he would be able to take care of the stable and do only that.