A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.
Fight 2 Win delivered yet another fantastic event headlined by two physically-imposing heavyweights. This year’s IBJJF no gi Pan-am champion Devhonte Johnson was facing a huge challenge in Yuri Simoes, a two-time ADCC world champion who recently began his professional MMA career. The vast majority of the match was spent with the pair wrestling and a single backtake was the deciding factor when the judges ruled in Simoes’ favor.
The co-main event featured another pair of big names as one of the Danaher Death Squad’s rising stars Oliver Taza took on a veteran black belt in GF Team’s Jaime Canuto. The deciding factor proved to be Taza’s relentless leg attacks and despite the fact that Canuto was able to fend off every one, the amount of time it took didn’t leave much room for him to mount much offense of his own and the judges awarded Taza the victory.
Full results for the event can be found here.
Kayla Harrison in and Fabricio Werdum out for PFL 6
Things are looking pretty bleak for Fabricio Werdum’s hopes of winning the million-dollar prize up for grabs at the end of this year’s season of PFL. His debut match for the promotion ended in a knockout loss that was later overturned to a no contest, and the decision was made that their would be no rematch. Now he’s been forced out of his final match of the qualifying period thanks to lingering effects of the knockout he suffered.
Olympic Judoka Kayla Harrison on the other hand is still maintaining her unbeaten professional record and doesn’t look as though she can be stopped. She will be making the walk to the cage at PFL 6 and for her tenth professional fight she will be coming up against fellow Judoka and experienced Freestyle wrestler Cindy Dandois. Unless Dandois can pull something amazing out of the bag, qualification seems a guarantee for Harrison.
Full lineup for the next Who’s Number One event revealed
As always with WNO, the promotion has managed to stack their next event from top to bottom with phenomenal grappling talent. The event will feature Keenan Cornelius looking to avenge a recent defeat that one of his top student’s Sloan Clymer suffered at the hands of the incredibly talented Haisam Rida. Mikey Musumeci also makes a quick turnaround against Edwin ‘Junny’ Ocasio as he looks to put his leglocking game to the test.
In an unusual twist, there will also be a wrestling match on the card as one of the best freestyle wrestlers around, Jordan Burroughs, takes on two-time NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez. Elsewhere on the card, Fan-favorite Andrew Wiltse faces off against Gabriel Almeida, Silver Fox black belt Danielle Kelly takes on Jessica Crane, and the talented young prodigy Mica Galvao will meet Oliver Taza on the mats.
First ever WNO Championships event announced
Flograppling has made a huge impact in the world of professional grappling in a very short time with their flagship promotion, Who’s Number One. The concept has been simple up until now, with each event featuring some of the top ranked grapplers on the planet in single matches. All that is about to change however as WNO have just announced their first ever championships event, which will have a total prize pot of over $250,000.
The event will take place over two days and will feature eight different weightclasses, three male and two female. The men will compete at under 155lbs, under 185lbs, or over 185lbs, while the women will compete at over or under 115lbs and each division will feature eight competitors. The event will surely attract huge talent as the winner takes home $30,000, the runner-up will win $15,000, and even third-place will earn a respectable $7,500.
Quick Hits
- UFC veteran, comedian, and podcaster Brendan Schaub has just been promoted to black belt in BJJ by Amal Easton and Eliot Marshall.
- A local instructor for Buffalo, New York has caught some criticism online for refusing to accept anyone working in law enforcement as a student.
- Former IBJJF and Bellator World Champion Rafael Lovato Jr recently tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend, Diana Saldana.
- The most recent addition to the massive group of ATOS black belts, Adam Bradley, has just stepped in to replace Oliver Taza in the Third Coast Grappling 7 Middleweight grand prix.
Technique Corner
Four guard retention techniques
Single-leg X to X-guard, to the saddle, to straight ankle-lock
Sumi-Gaeshi counter to the single-leg takedown