WNO results and highlights: Nicholas Meregali, Ffion Davies secure dominant victories

Check out the full WNO results. Nicholas Meregali picked up a submission win in the main event, and Ffion Davies defended her title in the co-main event.

FloGrappling’s Who’s Number One (WNO) returned to action on Thursday, August 10, with a 10-match card from Austin, TX.

In the main event, Nicholas Meregali picked up the biggest win of his still-young no-gi career, submitting two-time ADCC world champion Kaynan Duarte.

After an early exchange on the ground in which Duarte attacked a leg lock, the middle minutes of the match were contested on the feet. With less than five minutes remaining on the clock, Meregali secured a takedown, passed Duarte’s guard, moved directly into mount where he secured a relatively quick arm-triangle choke.

With the victory, Meregali has established himself among the very best heavyweight grapplers on the planet.

After the match, Meregali announced his plans to step away from no-gi competition for several months as he pursues gi matches to close out the year.

The co-main event saw reigning WNO flyweight champion Ffion Davies dominate for the vast majority of her title defense against challenger Jasmine Rocha. Davies secured a clean knee-cut pass early, moving directly to mount where she would spend nearly all of the 15-minute contest, alternating between threatening arm-triangle chokes and back-takes.

The reigning ADCC 60 kg. champion, 2023 Worlds champion, and WNO flyweight champion, Davies remains the near-consensus top pound-for-pound female competitor.

And lower on the card, Dante Leon and Ethan Crelinsten squared off for the vacant WNO lightweight title. In what was one of the strongest performances of his WNO tenure, Leon was able to secure an arm-in rear-naked choke after several minutes of high-paced action.

Now the WNO lightweight champion after just a pair of appearances at the weight, Leon seems to have settled in nicely in the new division and, with a submission win over an established elite like Crelinsten, looks to be at the top of his game.

Also, Felipe Pena put on a strong performance on his way to a submission win over The B-Team’s Haisam Rida; Nicky Ryan returned to dominate and earn a decision over Rene Sousa, and Andrew Tackett shined in a quick rear-naked choke victory against Troy Russell.

Full WNO results

Main card

  • Nicholas Meregali def. Kaynan Duarte via submission (arm triangle choke)
  • Ffion Davies (WNO flyweight champion) def. Jasmine Rocha via decision
  • Dante Leon def. Ethan Crelinsten via submission (arm-in rear-naked choke) (for the WNO lightweight title
  • Felipe Pena def. Haisam Rida via submission (rear-naked choke)
  • Nicky Ryan def. Rene Sousa via decision
  • Andrew Tackett def. Troy Russell via submission (rear-naked choke)

Preliminary card

  • Oliver Taza def. Sebastian Rodriguez via decision
  • Carlos Henrique def. Ben Eddy via decision
  • Helena Crevar def. Healy Dayan via submission (heel hook)
  • Achilles Rocha def. JB Bechtloff via submission (toehold)

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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