WNO results: Izaak Michell submits Kyle Chambers after 2 hours to win ‘Who’s Next’

Izaak Michell became the Season 1 “Who’s Next” champion when he submitted Kyle Chambers after more than two hours of grappling.

On Thursday, July 14, Izaak Michell and Kyle Chambers battled in a no-time limit match for the inaugural “Who’s Next” title. The match was the culmination of FloGrappling’s new competition reality show “Who’s Next;” both Michell and Chambers defeated three opponents on the show to earn their spot in the final.

Michell found dominant position early, moving to a body triangle on Chambers’ back just three minutes in the match. Michell attacked steadily, but Chambers defended and was eventually able to escape the position about six minutes later. Again Chambers would escape, and the pattern would repeat itself several more times with Michell generally dominating the positional battle, alternating between mount and back control. For his part, Chambers conserved energy, tightly defended his neck, and used efficient escapes to avoid submission danger.

One of the most dramatic moments happened at 49 minutes in, when Michell launched an attack from an inverted triangle, threatening both a choke and arm attacks. Chambers escaped the position and immediately went on the offensive, slamming Michell to the mat.

From there, the match continued into a predictable pattern of Michell attacking from dominant position while Chambers defended.

At 98 minutes, Chambers attacked a deep triangle choke, the closest submission attempt up to that point. Moments later, the match was paused so that Gordon Ryan and Pedro Marinho could hold their match for the vacant WNO heavyweight title.

The finish came nearly 30 minutes later. With Michell attacking from mount, Chambers attempted to escape, leaving his arm behind for Michell to secure a belly-down armbar, concluding the two-hour-plus contest.

WNO: Who’s Next Finale results and highlights:

Main card

Preliminary card

  • Mike Rakshan def. Spencer Fossier via camel crush

  • Max Hanson def. Fabian Ramirez via split decision

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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