Who’s Number One Championships Announced: 5 Brackets, Quarter-Million in Prize Money

At Friday’s Who’s Number One event, the promotion announced that it will be holding Who’s Number One (WNO) championships which will consist of five eight-person tournaments to crown three male champions and two female champions. The event is scheduled to take place over two days on September 25-26.

Below are the payouts for the WNO Championships.

No competitors have yet been announced for this event. However, given WNO’s status as the premier no-gi grappling promotion, coupled with the relatively large payouts, means that the world’s top competitors will likely be dying to get into these tournaments.

The women’s weight divisions — 115-pounds and heavyweight — are spread far apart, which will likely lead to a heavyweight division that is stacked with the absolute best female grapplers on the planet, including Nathiely De Jesus, Gabi Garcia, and Elisabeth Clay.

It’s much less clear who will compete in the men’s divisions. Fans should expect WNO mainstays like Vagner Rocha, William Tackett, Tye Ruotolo, and Nicky Ryan to compete, likely at middleweight. The heavyweight division could easily see names like Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu and Nick Rodriguez competing, while the lightweight division could include competitors like Ethan Crelinsten, Geo Martinez, Diego “Pato” Oliveira, and Josh Cisneros.

Stay tuned on Grappling Insider as match-ups and competitors for this event are announced.

Ben Coate

Ben has been involved with grappling, whether through wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, essentially his entire life. After wrestling throughout his childhood, Ben found Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a young adult and quickly fell in love. He has been training for over ten years and holds the rank of black belt, and remains involved in both the MMA and BJJ scene. Ben has been writing about combat sports since 2017. He has interviewed and profiled some of MMA's biggest stars, including multiple UFC champions.

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