FEBRUARY 8, 2025, last night we had the opportunity to watch another edition of FloGrappling’s Who’s Number One (WNO) event, the company’s crown jewel and one of the best no-gi events on the professional circuit. This was the 26th WNO show and keeping true to its tradition, the card was heavily based on teams Atos, 10th Planet, and AOJ. Below are the individual results and BJJ Heroes report.
PRELIM CARD
– Zach Kaina def. Isaac Cordova via decision
– Victor Silverio def. Ian Butler via RNC
– Rana Willink def. Solange Doorn via Heel hook
– Sara Galvao def. Katie Carr via Triangle armlock
– Michael Sainz def. Daniel Sathler via decision
– Rafaela Guedes def. Paige Ivette via decision
MAIN CARD
– Ronaldo Junior def. Jay Rodriguez via decision
A tentative match at first between two athletes often labeled as wreckless berzerkers saw both competitors earn penalties and warnings from the referee due to the lack of activity, and rightfully so as we saw only one shot attempt in the first 6 minutes, with the rest of the action being distance management tactics from standing. After the 7-minute mark, Rodriguez was able to drag Junior to the ground, counter-attacking Ronaldo’s attempts.
Close to the 3 minute mark, Ronaldo was able to sweep Jay, going on to conquer the mount soon after from a back attack and getting a very decent bite on a katagatame. Rodriguez survived and managed to stand back up. In the end, the match was worth the last 5 minutes of action and a worthy winner in Ronaldo Junior, who was closer to the finish and fought slightly harder to advance positions throughout the match.
– Tainan Dalpra def. Rene Sousa via Guillotine/reverse arm-triangle (Power Guillotine).
One of the top Gi specialists in the world, Tainan Dalpra, continues to dip his toes in the no-gi circuit at Who’s Number One. This time, 10th Planet athlete Rene Sousa was his opponent, a competitor that reached a fair amount of success in the submission-only circuit over the past few years.
Dalpra was able to impose his will from the start, taking Sousa down with a nice arm drag, passing the guard, taking the back, and cruising against Rene until he found the submission around the 7-minute mark.
– Ryan Aitken def. Luccas Lira via decision
An atypical match between these two, who are usually very comfortable playing from the bottom position. This time, however, both opted to try and wrestle for the passing stance. With a tie in the wrestling, both men went to the mat where Aitken proved to be the more dangerous of the two, with some nice lower limb attacks. A fair decision from the judges.
– Roberto Jimenez def. Elder Cruz via Flying armbar
An outstanding start of the match, Roberto Jimenez flew on Cruz’s arm from the very first clinch contact and got the finish. High risk, high reward by Roberto The Natural.
– Diego “Pato” Oliveira def. Keith Krikorian via decision
A very strong performance by Pato who was in the driver’s seat in every portion of this match. Diego attacked legs, swept, passed the guard, mounted (twice), a clean sweep for the AOJ representative who retained his Who’s Number One lightweight title.
