B-Team's Ethan Crelinsten and Pedigo Submission Fighting's Dante Leon are two of the best lightweight submission grapplers on Earth, and they are set to face off on Aug. 10 at Tezos WNO: Meregali vs Duarte for the vacant 155lb championship. 

Tickets are on sale now to watch Tezos WNO 19: Meregali vs Duarte presented by Fat Tire!

Both athletes are very skilled in a wide variety of positions, have multiple ways to finish fights, and always come in very physically prepared. So who holds the edge when this pair of Canadians match up? Here are a few situations and considerations that could end up critical to the outcome.

Brute Strength

The easiest place to begin handicapping the match is with physical strength. While Ethan is certainly on the bigger side of 155, Dante is coming down from his usual home of 170 to get more competition and new matchups. While he was already strong at 170, he's now going to hold an advantage in size against just about everyone at 155. In his lone match at 155 against Alvarenga, Dante wore out his opponent. That may inform us that he won't gas out down at this lower weight.

Ethan's Body Lock

Ethan has developed his wrestling in the last few years, and the position he has favored in the previous matches is the body lock. After reaching for a nearby single leg, Crelinsten rarely pursues the takedown from there - instead transitioning either up to the body lock or pulling guard with a solid grip around the leg for potential entanglements. Ethan has long arms that make that body lock really strong, and he likes to use that position to upset his opponent's balance and from there hop on the back.

Dante has a strong sprawl and good leg entries, but opponents in the past like Ruan Alvarenga and Nicky Ryan have found wrestling entries with quick level changes. If Ethan can convert his body lock into a takedown or even a back take, especially early, that can change the fight. How each man navigates the body lock position could be a crucial battleground in this duel for the championship.

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Who Wins The Knee Cut Position?

An interesting key battle may come in a key position. Both men like to fight out of the same position, just one on top and one on bottom - the knee cut/reverse De La Riva. Whoever is able to consistently work their game from here will carry a huge advantage in the matchup, enough that it could swing the entire fight.

Dante's preferred method from top is to get to the knee cut on his left (right leg down in the knee cut) and work from there. If his opponent decides to underhook and work up, he's quick to jump on the neck for an arm-in guillotine. If he gets to his own underhook from top, then he uses that to isolate the arm, spin for the armbar, or lock in a kimura/side triangle combination. By pressuring in heavy and forcing reactions with constant hand fighting, Dante turns his knee cut from a simple pass into a position where he can hold you down easier while he sets up opportunistic finishes.

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Ethan, on the other hand, prefers to play that same position from bottom. He often plays his guard agains ambulatory passers — rather than the heavy top game of Dante – but he retains well and moves himself to the reverse De La Riva. From there, he sets up leg entanglements and can wrestle up well if given enough space.

Will Dante be able to set up shop in that split squat position, or will Ethan be able to frame and off-balance enough to work his mobile game?

Legs or Back

Every no-gi athlete in the modern game needs to be skilled in leg locks and their transitions, and both title contenders have those skills in different ways. 

Ethan is known for his stellar leg locks, with a bunch of heel hook finishes on his ledger that he enters from top and bottom position. Dante doesn't usually enter into leg locks, and seems unlikely to start against Ethan. But he does counter leg locks with wedging back takes and back steps into go behinds. If Ethan enters into a leg without enough commitment or enough catch on the limb, he will risk giving his back to a great finisher.

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Who will win this match? It's a tight one to handicap, but oddsmakers at BetOnline AG currently favor Dante at -200, with Ethan as the +170 underdog. They do, however, predict a longer match, with 'Over 10mins' favored at -185, compared to the +140 'Under 10mins'. Tune in this Thursday to see who becomes the new 155lb champion for Tezos WNO, streaming exclusively on FloGrappling.

Full Card for Tezos WNO 19: Duarte vs Meregali presented by Fat Tire

Main Card:

• Main Event: Nicholas Meregali vs Kaynan Duarte | Heavyweight bout
• Co-Main Event: Ffion Davies (c) vs Jasmine Rocha | Flyweight title bout
• Dante Leon vs Ethan Crelinsten | Lightweight title bout
• Felipe Pena vs Haisam Rida | Heavyweight bout
• Nicky Ryan vs Rene Sousa | Welterweight bout
• Andrew Tackett vs Troy Russell | Welterweight Bout

Undercard:

• Sebastian Rodriguez vs Hunter Colvin | Middleweight bout
• Ben Eddy vs Carlos Henrique | Featherweight bout
• Helena Crevar vs Healy Dayan | Featherweight bout
• Achilles Rocha vs JB Bechtloff | Middleweight bout