Scheduled to take place in Costa Mesa, CA, on Feb. 9,  WNO 22 is pulling out all the stops to bring about yet another memorable night of grappling for both athletes and fans. Leading the event's star-studded roster, the world champion Victor Hugo is in the final stretch of his preparations to face the two-time ADCC finalist Nick Rodriguez in the Main Event and will be ready to use the full might of his jiu-jitsu to try and neutralize Nicky Rod's dangerous wrestling.

Faced with an unorthodox opponent, Victor Hugo has worked to up his game ahead of the match. Under the guidance of the world champions Xande Ribeiro and Rafael Lovato, the Six Blades athlete has been honing a more traditional Jiu-Jitsu style, aiming to increase his arsenal and explore techniques that aren’t frequently used in grappling. Such preparations, coupled with the maturation Victor Hugo has shown after conquering the Worlds in 2022, show just how hungry the ultra heavyweight champion is for his next titles.

With the deadline growing ever closer, Victor Hugo opened up about his training and mindset ahead of the competition. Check out the interview below and get ready for the WNO 22 on Feb. 9, live on FloGrappling.

FLOGRAPPLING: You’ll be headlining the WNO 22 in a match against Nicky Rod. Were you already looking forward to facing him?

VICTOR HUGO: I knew this duel was coming sooner or later, especially because of our fighting styles. But for me, nothing has really changed. My main focus still is developing my No-Gi game. 

How do you analyze Nick’s game? How do you plan to overcome such a strong wrestler in a no-gi match?

Even though he doesn’t have as much experience in Jiu-Jitsu, Nick has faced some extremely talented athletes in No-Gi, and that helped develop his game. My strategy for this fight will be different from what he’s used to, I’ll be focusing on attacks that are mostly forgotten in the current grappling scene. I’ve also been training a lot of wrestling this past year, alongside some top-tiered athletes in the US. Nick has a very peculiar game, so I’ve also focused on specific situations that may arise during our match.

Unlike your opponent, who focuses only on no-gi, you’re a Jiu-Jitsu World Champion both with and without the gi. How does this mileage stand to give you an edge when fighting against a no-gi specialist?

Because of the athleticism of the competitors and the fact that everything gets very slippery, things tend to happen really fast in No-Gi. Meanwhile, fighting in traditional Jiu-Jitsu gives me the chance to slow things down and keep my attention on the details. My experience fighting with the gi gives me the confidence to apply my technical precision in grappling duels. 

Your game has been getting increasingly aggressive in the past few years. Was this something you planned or just a natural result of your training sessions?

After getting the gold medal in the 2022 Worlds, my team and I decided to increase my physical preparation and adjust my training to increase my dominance and precision with the techniques. It’s a lengthy process that requires humility and the willingness to correct even the tiniest details, and this training has been showing great results in competitions.