WNO 30, held on October 24 in Pittsburgh, delivered a David-and-Goliath style duel in its open class Grand Prix final, recalling the epic matches with no regard for weight classes that came before Jiu-Jitsu’s rise in popularity. The open-weight Grand Prix bracket, the main attraction of the 30th edition of Who’s Number One, was eagerly awaited because of its lineup.
Dante Leon and Declan Moody were the favorites in the bracket, the lightest and the heaviest athletes in the Grand Prix, respectively. Their technical quality did, in fact, carry both to the final. Declan, the powerful American with an excellent reputation in grappling, came out on top. Still, Dante, always dangerous, made him work hard for it.
On his way to the final, the first opponent Dante Leon eliminated was Pat Shahgholi, submitted with a cross face. Next, the Canadian beat Felipe ‘Laranjinha’ Costa by decision. Xande Ribeiro’s student, an ADCC silver medalist, showed technical maturity throughout the competition despite being stopped in the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, he controlled the attacks of Achilles Rocha, who holds the record for the fastest submission in WNO history.
To advance in the competition and write his own name on the bracket, Declan Moody had to beat Justin Michael in the quarterfinals, a 10th Planet athlete who earned his Grand Prix spot through a qualifier held by 247 FC, also in Pittsburgh. The favorite in that matchup, Declan settled it with ease and finished Justin with an arm triangle. In the semifinals, Declan beat Ryan Aitken, Roberto Jimenez’s replacement in the bracket, in a close match decided by the judges.
The final, which would decide the Grand Prix champion, was evenly matched despite the weight gap. Dante Leon did not lack the will to win, staying on the offensive and focused on Declan’s legs. The American, in turn, made good use of his extra pounds and his pressure game. Once he took Dante down, Declan managed his dominant positions well to stay ahead. A matchup that lived up to both athletes’ billing as favorites.
ARM HUNTERS: ATOS’ EMILY LEYVA AND SARAH GALVÃO SHOWED EFFICIENCY AND SHARP TECHNIQUE AT WNO 30
The card featured seven superfights in addition to the Grand Prix matches. Emily Leyva and Sarah Galvão, athletes from Atos’ women’s ‘Dream Team’, took the spotlight. Emily Leyva faced Claire Butterfield in the last bout of the preliminary card. Emily is an athlete who knows how to perform under pressure. At the first Judges’ Favor, the momentum was with Claire Butterfield. Playing catch-up, André Galvão’s brown belt, making her debut at the event, struck with an armlock and got the submission.
Sarah Galvão had already competed at WNO, but as a brown belt. At the event’s 26th edition, she faced Katie Carr and dominated completely, pressuring from mount to finish with an americana. Trinity Pun couldn’t contain the offensive strategy of Sarah, who came into the matchup as the favorite. The outcome was a win by armlock, just like Emily.
The night was also marked by two wins from athletes who got the better of favorites. Gavin Corbe beat Owen Jones by decision, as did Devhonte Johnson, who took his match against Gutemberg Pereira to the end with an edge in the referees’ view, and they declared him the winner.
In the opening bouts of the preliminary card, Matthew Velez beat Xavier Rodela, Andy Vaughan beat Sean Kyle and Daniel Cohen got the better of Kyle O’Hare. The first three matches on the WNO 30 card were decided by decision.
This article was originally published in Portuguese: read the original version.
