COMBAT SPORTS
_{How to watch and–more importantly–who to watch tonight in Houston}

It’s been a few months since we saw some WNO action, but a lot has changed in the no gi grappling landscape. CJI and ADCC have come and gone. New champions were minted. Organizers signed off (fare thee well, Mo Jassim). Mega-stars became VPs of overpriced sandal companies and lost favor and fan interest despite having not one but two ADCC “superfights.”

Read on for the least you should know about the first major WNO card since ADCC that many athletes are seeing as a warm up for No Gi Worlds. On the latter–stick with us and keep an eye on your email. We’ll be previewing that event in short order. 

On the WNO 25 Main Card

• Heavyweight Bout - Kaynan Duarte vs Roberto Jimenez

• Light-Heavyweight Championship - Pedro Marinho vs Izaak Michell

• Strawweight Championship - Adele Fornarino vs Sophia Cassella

• Heavyweight Bout -  Felipe Pena vs Declan Moody

• Featherweight Bout - Helena Crevar vs Leilani Bernales

• Welterweight Bout - Daniel Sathler vs Fabyun Krysthyan

• Lightweight Bout - Max Hanson vs Carlos Henrique

On the WNO 25 Prelims

• Lightweight Bout - Julian Espinosa vs Randy Baker

• Featherweight Bout - Nate Hernandez vs Isaac Cordova

• Light Heavyweight Bout - Dylan Melton vs Sebastian Attard

• Strawweight Bout - Thaynara Victoria vs Kathryn Discianni

Heavyweight Bout - Kaynan Duarte vs Roberto Jimenez

Haters are going to hate on Kaynan, but he stands to carry on the legacy of his coach, the legendary Andre Galvao if he keeps having years like this one.Double gold at ADCC. Seven of his eight matches won by submission. At 26 years old, Kaynan still has plenty of gas in the tank and there’s no one quite as dominant who’s as active.

But Kaynan has been proven mortal on the WNO stage and in competitions in recent memory: he gassed out and got choked out by Nicholas Meregali at WNO 19 last year. He also got RNC-ed by fellow Danaher disciple, Luke Griffith, at UFC Fight Pass 7 in May. 

Jimenez has been a continual contender, and managed to clinch his first No Gi World title last year in the Open Class. If he can bring that kind of performance into the WNO ruleset, he could give Duarte some trouble. The 

Unless the latest keys to victory against Kaynan are strictly stored in a New Wave vault, there’s reason to believe Jimenez could follow Griffith’s and Meregali’s strategies as a playbook for WNO this week: tire Duarte out and find a choke. 

Roberto is great in a scramble and has a seemingly-infinite gas tank. When Kaynan is good, he’s unstoppable, but if Roberto beats him on cardio and cracks him for just a moment, he’ll capitalize an opportunity to find the back.

Light-Heavyweight Championship - Pedro Marinho vs Izaak Michell

Marinho has been able to hold onto his WNO title by way of controlling exchanges and holding steady against the likes of Rafael Lovato Jr. and Giancarlo Bodoni. After getting brutally subbed by Ryan Aitken in the opening round of ADCC, Marinho probably wants to end 2024 on a high note, and defeating Michell would certainly do the trick. 

Blame it on the rumor mill and gossip trains, Michell gets criminally underrated as an athlete and could win this match against Marinho. His last appearance on WNO against Jacob Couch was a worthy fan favorite that night, showcasing all the things that make Michell a worthy title contender. His wrestling is solid, he’s offensive on the feet and on the mats, and he doesn’t tend to stall things out.

That’s going to be the catch here: Marinho tends to play the clock and fights defensively.  Michell needs to find a way to get Marinho to engage. If he does, the belt is his. 

Strawweight Championship - Adele Fornarino vs Alex Nguyen

Call me a Daddy’s Girl, but my money is on Adele–it was on her when this match was still against Alex Nguyen (who unfortunately withdrew last week), and it’s more so now that Fornarino’s new opponent is Sophia Cassella. 

Adele is having the hottest year of her career. In February, she debuted on WNO with one of the promotion’s fastest-ever submissions. This summer, she made history with a double gold performance at ADCC, winning the -55kg division and the first-ever absolute division in dominant, sub-heavy fashion.

Her “worst” performance of the year was actually her last performance on WNO, where Fornarino took on Featherweight favorite, Ana Rodrigues. Fornarino won the bout by decision, but Rodrigues’ refusal to engage meant that we didn’t get to see a signature Mir lock in action from Adele–or much of any technique for that matter. I blame it on the fact that Rodrigues’s jiu-jitsu has been leaning more towards stalling than toward world-class grappling over the last few years, well before she tore her ACL. 

I digress. 

The 115-lb title at Strawweight has been left empty by Mayssa Bastos, and Fornarino has a much stronger claim to it than Cassella. 

Cassella’s main claim to fame was a 35-second heel hook on Jessica Crane on WNO in 2022. She’s taken some time off the scene since then but it remains to be seen how that time has helped her as an athlete. An upset of Fornarino would turn heads, but it’s unlikely. 

Fornarino has been way more active–and successful–than Cassella, both by the volume and by the caliber of talent she’s been able to tackle: Cassella beating up Jessie Crane in 2022 is nothing like Fornarino beating up Bia Mesquita in 2024. 

Part of me wishes Mayssa Bastos would do a title defense, since I think Adele could get the best of her in one more rubber match (the two faced off multiple times in 2023). Regardless, good on Adele for likely getting her first WNO belt this Thursday. Here’s hoping that Mayssa  will come out of “retirement” from this division to challenge Adele for her former throne.

Heavyweight Bout - Felipe Pena vs Declan Moody

Pena is tireless and looked rock solid against the competition at ADCC. Moody is one of the newer exports from Australia, now training with the likes of Craig Jones, Nicky Rod, and the rest at B Team. 

People love Moody and will a few good reasons: he had a great Asia and Oceania Trials Run in 2023, and he had a solid win by RNC when he debuted on WNO against Felipe Costa earlier this year. He’s definitely improved since coming over to B-Team in early 2024, and with a draw of anyone other than Kaynan Duarte in the quarterfinals, he might have advanced to the semis or finals of both -99kg and the Absolute division of ADCC 2024. Even so, I’d be remiss to not bet on Preguiça. His guard is best in class, and his top game looked fresh at ADCC. 

In his victory speech at ADCC this year, Pena claimed he wanted to work on new things and keep evolving as a grappler. Maybe this match with Moody is an opportunity for him to do just that. That said, if he wanted to play his ol’ reliable guard game, there’s no question: he smokes Moody back “Down Under.” 

Featherweight Bout - Helena Crevar vs Leilani Bernales

Let’s just say it out loud: Crevar could have won ADCC. Ana Carolina Vieira is a tremendous fighter and is among the greatest of her era, winning 5 world titles between 2017 and 2022, and becoming an ADCC champion in 2024 at -65kg. All respect Vieira, but I think Crevar could beat her if the two ran it back, given Crevar’s talent and a different strategy for Danaher’s baby to beat up “Baby.” 

Bernales is a scrappy competitor. She had strong performances at the ADCC South American Trials and the ADCC West Coast Trials this year, taking bronze at both events. Before switching affiliations, she was among the most promising female up-and-comers under Cyborg at Fight Sports Miami. A longtime training partner of Maggie Grindatti and Jasmine Rocha, Bernales has had a good stable of female training partners over the years who have already competed on the WNO stage. Odds are at least one of them will be in her corner giving her the wisdom, experience, and support needed for her to bring some Miami heat to the Houston stage. 

Odds are that Helena still takes this match: if Vieira, one of the greatest competitors at this weight, couldn’t sub Helena, I doubt Bernales can either. But Leilani could still make things interesting if she channels her ADCC swagger once again for WNO and No Gi Worlds–for the latter, she’s already the favorite to win her division (Brown Belt/Middleweight). 

Welterweight Bout - Daniel Sathler vs Fabyury Khrysthyan

Sathler subs in for Andrew Tackett on short notice–a pity–but not knowing who Fabyury is (let alone how to pronounce his full name), I figured he was just chum for the wood-chipper that is Tackett. 

Turns out that Khrysthyan has a BJJ Heroes page, according to which he was a key player in AOJ golden boy Tainan Dalpra’s no gi debut on WNO. Khrysthyan also won No Gi Pans and No Gi Worlds last year at Brown Belt, making this year his “rookie season” at Black Belt. 

Sathler had a killer debut on WNO earlier this year, but did so in a lighter division. Sathler could exploit his size and speed in this kind of matchup, but could be in trouble if Khrysthyan puts on the pressure or otherwise refuses to let Sathler define the pace.

Lightweight Bout - Max Hanson vs Carlos Henrique

Apparently these two went head to head twice this year, are 1-1 from matchups at last year’s No Gi Worlds and this year’s No Gi Pans. (Yawn). Apparently they are also talking smack. If you’re good, you let your technique do the talking first, and let your mouth follow–that’s the only reason Gordon Ryan has ever been able to get away with it. 

Hanson got subbed by a flying armbar by Sathler (also on this card) in his last WNO appearance. Henrique won his WNO debut last year. Neither of them is that good relative to the king of this WNO weight class (Diego Pato), so shit talking is the only way for them to get noticed and booked on cards like these. 

When and Where to Watch WNO 25

WNO 25 goes down in Houston, TX on Thursday December 4, 2024. Prelims begin at 7PM Central Time.