Gordon Ryan Returns Plus Three Titles On The Line October 20th!
Gordon Ryan Returns Plus Three Titles On The Line October 20th!
Gordon Ryan returns to action in an exhibition match plus Mikey Musumeci, Ffion Davies and Bia Mesquita compete for titles on October 20th!
Who's Number One (WNO) is back on Wednesday, October 20th with WNO: The Return Of Gordon Ryan! The reigning ADCC absolute champion will begin his return to competition after taking a break due to health issues, with a 15 minute exhibition match against UFC fighter Philip Rowe.
Three titles will also be on the line, here is a quick look at the entire lineup:
Main Card (Only available on FloGrappling)
Exhibition: Gordon Ryan vs Philip Rowe
Main Event: Bia Mesquita vs Luiza Monteiro (135lb Bantamweight title)
Co-Main: Ffion Davies vs Nathalie Ribeiro (125lb Flyweight title)
Levi Jones-Leary vs Oliver Taza
Mikey Musumeci vs Richard Alarcon (135lb Bantamweight title)
Prelims (Available FREE on Facebook and Youtube)
Pedro Marinho vs Hunter Colvin
Brianna Ste-Marie vs Bri Robertson
Damien Anderson vs Estevan Martinez
The event will take place in Austin, Texas at the Palmer Event Center at 8:00 ET.
Purchase tickets for the live event here
Return Of The King
Following the success of the WNO Championship just a couple weeks ago, WNO is back with a stacked lineup featuring some of the most exciting grapplers in the game. Since it's inception, WNO has been dedicated to putting excitement and the viewing experience first, so far resulting in a 47% submission rate after one year of events under WNO rules.
Five athletes left the WNO Championship with gold around their waist, and three more champions will be declared on October 20th. After this event, eight out of twelve WNO weight class champions will be official, with men's featherweight, welterweight and light-heavyweight still to go and women's featherweight as well.
The big news is the return of three time ADCC champion Gordon Ryan to competition, although in an exhibition format instead of a regular match. This match will go the entire 15 minutes no matter how many submissions are achieved, creating an opportunity for Gordon and Philip Rowe to really take risks and put on a show to close the event. Before taking a hiatus due to stomach issues, Gordon was 4-0 with four submissions on WNO and is currently ranked fourth in the WNO pound-for-pound rankings.
Three Titles On The Line October 20th
Two women and one man will leave Austin as the first champions in their weight category at WNO. Kicking off the main card, Mikey Musumeci will compete back in his normal weight class after bumping up 20 pounds at the WNO Championship, taking on ADCC veteran Richard Alarcon for the bantamweight title. Mikey is 3-1 at WNO with a 66% submission rate and undefeated at 135 pounds.
In the co main event, Nathalie Ribeiro returns after being victorious in her WNO debut as year ago, and welcomes ADCC silver medalist to WNO as she makes her debut in a match for the flyweight title. Nathalie and Ffion are two of the most exciting women out there and this is sure to be a war.
Arguably the greatest female competitor of all-time, Bia Mesquita will make her WNO debut in the main event against another legend in Luiza Monteiro. Bia is an ADCC and IBJJF No-Gi Worlds champion and will be looking to add the WNO title to her resume as well, but getting by three-time No-Gi World champ Luiza will be no easy task for Bia in her first match on WNO.
Levi Jones-Leary vs Oliver Taza and Stacked FREE Prelims
More associated with gi competition, Levi Jones-Leary will make his return to no-gi competiton against WNO veteran Oliver Taza in the second match on the main card. Levi has been working with Lachlan Giles on his no-gi game in Australia, and has a tough first match back in no-gi against New Wave Jiu-Jitsu competitor Taza. Taza is 2-1 on WNO, with wins over Johnatha Alves and Johnny Tama.
As always, there will be three matches streamed free on our Facebook and Youtube accounts prior to the main card kicking off. Up first Damien Anderson of New Wave takes on the "Giant Killer," Estevan Martinez, in a match that is sure to be nonstop action and should be a great way to start the night. Up next, Medusa champion Brianna Ste-Marie takes on 10th Planet up and comer Bri Robertson in another match that should contend for match of the night. Finishing up the prelims is a showdown at heavyweight betweem two submission hunters, when Pedro Marinho meets Hunter Colvin.
The prelims will start at 8:00 ET on Wednesday, October 20th, this is bound to be one of the most exciting events of the year and you're not going to want to miss watching this one live.
Watch WNO: The Return Of Gordon Ryan Live On Demand On FloGrappling