WNO 25 results: Duarte dominates, Marinho and Fornarino win title bouts
View results and video highlights from WNO 25, which took place on December 4, 2024, in Houston, Texas.
On Wednesday, FloGrappling’s Who’s Number One (WNO) returned to action in Houston, Texas with a card featuring a pair of title matches and a number of grappling’s top competitors.
In the main event of WNO 25, ADCC double-champion Kaynan Duarte employed a methodical, pressure-oriented top game to largely dominate 2024 IBJJF no-gi world champion Roberto Jimenez.
Jimenez sat to his guard in the contest’s opening seconds. From there, Duarte went right to work passing from the headquarters position. And while Jimenez was able to frame and fend off the passes for much of the match, Duarte eventually secured the mount position in the bout’s final five minutes.
After 15 minutes of action, the judges awarded Duarte the clear-cut decision.
Before that, reigning WNO light heavyweight champion Pedro Marinho successfully defended his title in a 15-minute stand-up battle with Australian standout Izaak Michell. Neither man was willing to cede the bottom position or able to secure a takedown in the match. Marinho generally won most of the hand-fighting exchanges, finding some success with snap downs and foot sweep attempts. For his part, Michell was never willing to fully commit to a takedown attempt, likely in an attempt to avoid Marinho’s trademark guillotine choke.
After his victory, Marinho called for potential matches against Jonnatas Gracie, Mica Galvao, Giancarlo Bodoni, or even UFC star and world-class wrestler Bo Nickal.
Also, reigning ADCC double-champion Adele Fornarino cemented herself as the sport’s best female grappler of 2024 with a quick submission win over late-notice replacement and rookie black belt Sophia Cassella. Fornarino attacked relentlessly early and often, ultimately needing less than five minutes to secure a clean straight ankle lock finish.
With the victory, the Australian remains undefeated in 2024 and claimed the WNO strawweight title.
Check out the full results from WNO 25 below
WNO 25 results
- Kaynan Duarte def. Roberto Jimenez via decision
- Pedro Marinho def. Izaak Michell via decision (defends WNO light heavyweight title)
- Adele Fornarino def. Sophia Cassella via submission (straight ankle lock – wins WNO strawweight title)
- Felipe Pena def. Declan Moody via submission (arm-in guillotine choke)
- Helena Crevar def. Leilani Bernales via decision
- Fabyury Khrysthyan def. Daniel Sathler via decision
- Carlos Henrique def. Max Hanson via decision
- Julian Espinosa def. Randy Baker via decision
- Isaac Cordova def. Nathan Hernandez via submission (Ruotolotine)
- Sebastian Attard def. Dylan Melton via decision
- Thaynara Victoria def. Cathryn Discianni via decision
