AUGUST 08, 2022, The much anticipated Gordon Ryan x Felipe Pena showdown finally took place under the Who’s Number One (WNO) promotion. This match was under a special ruleset of no time limit with the victor only being decided via submission, while the rest of the card continued to follow the WNO guidelines of 15 minutes with the winner being decided either by submission or by decision.
The matches on the card were almost entirely one-sided, with the exception being Bia Mesquita’s close battle with Elisabeth Clay. For a full report on yesterday’s action, please read our report below.
– DIOGO REIS DEF. ESTEVAN MARTINEZ: DECISION
A clinic performance by Reis, who was always one step ahead of his opponent. Martinez came in ready to compete with his non-stop attitude and resilience but was outmatched in this one.
– FABRICIO ANDREY DEF. FABIAN RODRIGUEZ: DECISION
Andrey dominated every exchange with a very solid understanding and application of grappling fundamentals, both standing and on the ground where he conquered dominant positions (side control, knee-on-belly, back control), and even threw a few submission attempts of his own. If this was to have been a points-based match, the Brazilian would have been well into double-digit numbers on the scoreboard.
– JACOB COUCH DEF. JACOB RODRIGUEZ: DECISION
Old school grappling style clash on the mats with the lanky guard playing skillset of Couch going up against the explosive wrestling of Jay Rod. Couch displayed the blueprint of how to deal with Rodriguez by playing straight-up old-school jiu-jitsu against the more novel wrestle-jitsu of his opponent, putting the visible holes of the rookie B-Team players’ game on full display.
Couch pulled closed guard, swept, mounted, took the back, and gave nothing up. A clean grappling display by the Pedigo Submission Fighting representative.
– BEATRIZ MESQUITA DEF. ELISABETH CLAY: DECISION
Mesquita dominated the standing portion of the clash with aggressive takedowns, but things evened out on the ground where Elisabeth was able to keep Mesquita from gaining any real threatening positions by wrapping Bia’s legs and attacking a few submissions from her back. This was the most balanced match of the night, but still a clear victory for Mesquita.
– MICA GALVÃO DEF. ALAN SANCHEZ: RNC
As many believed to be likely, this was a one-way street for Micael Galvão as the Manaus, Brazil, native dominated the match from start to finish. A takedown, combined with a pass to mount, took the back and then submitted. Interestingly, this was Galvão’s 4th submission win over a 10th Planet representative in his last 5 match victories.
– NICHOLAS MEREGALI DEF. RAFAEL LOVATO JR.: DECISION
A very dominant performance by Meregali (28) who is currently at the very top of the grappling ladder in the gi and close to it in no-gi. 39-year-old Rafael Lovato, on the other hand, appears to be, possibly, on a different trajectory.
The Brazilian talent, currently playing for John Danaher’s Team New Wave, dominated every aspect of the game, showing a very improved takedown style based on upper body techniques, which he used as a stepping stone into the array of ground attacks. Guard pass, mount-control, and back-control were Nicholas’s used pins on his way to a decision victory.
– GORDON RYAN DEF. FELIPE PENA: VERBAL TAP
This match had to happen and hopefully, we will see these two run it back, but never again in a no-time limit sub-only (please). The match lasted 45 minutes with 5 instances taking place (successful positions conquered), most of which happened in the final 8 minutes of the clash.
Gordon Ryan did dominate every one of these 5 exchanges with two sweeps and 3 takedowns, but Pena did appear to have a strong answer for Ryan’s passing by locking up the Texas-based grappler’s legs into 50-50 guard, outside ashi-garami, bear-traps and X-guard.
At the 41-minute mark, while standing with Gordon, Felipe appeared to quit the match, but after speaking to the referee, oddly agreed to return to the mat. 4 minutes later, after a takedown from Ryan, while playing guard, Pena officially verbally tapped.
During his post-match interview, Felipe Pena explained that his head wasn’t in the match due to the loss of his best friend Leandro Lo, who was murdered in São Paulo this Saturday. He also referenced that he had requested to put a time limit on the match due to his mental state, but the offer had been refused by Ryan.
Gordon Ryan rebutted and explained that he understood Felipe Pena’s grief and would have agreed to have postponed their match, but that he would not be willing to change the ruleset.
“I can see how it was hard for Pena to compete tonight, he called Flo(Grappling) and asked to do a 30-minute match or draw (…), you’re either not OK to compete – in which case you should just pull out and we reschedule the match – or, if you’re going to compete it doesn’t matter how long you compete for.” Said Gordon at Flo’s post-fight interview.
