Top BJJ heavyweights will class as Nicky Rod vs Kaynan Duarte has been booked for WNO 27.
One of the biggest possible matches in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) has been booked for WNO 27.
As announced during the WNO 26 broadcast, the promotion’s next event will happen on April 18, 2025 at the Kalahari Convention Center, in Round Rock, Texas. The WNO 27 main event will also be a huge one, as it pits Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) champion Nick Rodriguez against the ADCC double gold medalist Kaynan Duarte.
The 28-year-old “Nicky Rod” showcased his recent improvements and put on a dominant performance at the inaugural CJI event. He submitted every opponent at the open weight division to win the $1 million prize. Rodriguez then followed up with a UFC FPI 8 main event win over Michael Pixley.
In the very same weekend, the 27-year-old Duarte also put on the best performance of his career across the road at ADCC 2024. The Atos star submitted eight of his nine opponents to win gold medals at both the -99 kg division and in the open weight division. Duarte went on to defeat recent WNO 26 standout Roberto Jimenez.
Gordon Ryan has been incredibly selective on his opponents in recent years, so outside of the unrealistic chance he’d face either champion, Rodriguez vs. Duarte was the heavyweight fight to book. This battle of open-weight champions has been brewing since that massive ADCC vs. CJI weekend last August, and it will finally happen at WNO 27 this April.
Duarte and Rodriguez have faced off twice before, with Duarte winning by 3 points at ADCC 2019 and by heel hook in Fight2Win. Those matches happened six years ago, when Rodriguez was still a blue and purple belt, and long before both men improved to go on their recent dominant streaks.
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