Big Wins For Hugo, Pato, Mica Galvão & Adele At WNO 22 | WNO 22 Recap

Victor Hugo defeats Nick Rodriguez, Pato submits Dante Leon to become two-division champ, Adele Fornarino secures fastest-ever submission on WNO at WNO 22

Feb 10, 2024 by Corey Stockton

Big Wins For Hugo, Pato, Mica Galvão & Adele At WNO 22 | WNO 22 Recap

Victor Hugo defeated Nick Rodriguez by decision in the main event of WNO 22 in Costa Mesa, CA to affirm his position near the top of the heap in the no-gi rankings.

Hugo had a significant armlock attempt near the midway point of the match, which may have put him over in the eyes of the judges. He may have taken notes from Rodriguez' last WNO match against Felipe Pena, as Hugo — like Pena — found omoplata opportunities to counter Nicky Rod's tight passing style.

As the match progressed, Rodriguez managed to pass Hugo's guard on a few occasions; but Hugo strung together a late flrry, nearly taking Nicky Rod's back in the waning moments of the match.

The main event marked Hugo's return to the WNO stage for the first time in four years. His last time on the platform was at the first edition of WNO in January 2020, when he defeated Nicholas Meregali in a gi match.

Diego Pato becomes two division champ with heel hook victory over Leon

Diego 'Pato' Oliveira made a statement in his return to the lightweight division, submitting the formidable Dante Leon via heel hook halfway through the scheduled 15-minute bout to become a two-division champion.

Pato was quick to his guard, and had to endure the reputed passing pressure of Leon. But he relied on his leg lock game to nullify that pressure, first using it to get on top, then again to catch the winning submission.

In Pato's last WNO match in November 2023, he took the featherweight title off of ADCC champion Diogo Reis, injuring Reis in an leg exchange.

Pato competed for the lightweight title in 2021 at the WNO Championship in an eight-man bracket eventually won by Kade Ruotolo. Pato took third in that bracket.

With his victory, he becomes the second-ever athlete to hold two titles simultaneously in the WNO organization. Tye Ruotolo was the first to do it, winning the middleweight strap in 2021 and the welterweight belt in 2022.

Mica Galvão collects second straight RNC finish in title defense

In the WNO 22 co-main event, Mica Galvão defeated Kenta Iwamoto via rear naked choke to defend his welterweight belt for the second consecutive time.

Throughout the match, Galvão attempted several armlocks in scrambles, including in counter attacks to Iwamoto's convincing takedown efforts. But Iwamoto escaped on every occasion. Galvão also hunted for several guillotine attempts in takedown counters, similar to those he attempted in his last title defense against Kody Steele, but to no avail.

Ultimately, in the closing five minute period of the bout, Galvão circled to Iwamoto's back, where he quickly secured the winning choke.

With his win, Galvão pads his stats as the most-winning athlete on WNO, now 10-1 with a 50-percent submission rate.

Adele Fornarino sets WNO record in WNO debut

Adele Fornarino made quick work of her WNO debut. It was so quick, in fact, that she set a record, securing an aoki lock finish over Amanda 'Tubby' Alequin in just 23 seconds.

That submission is tied with the record Nicky Ryan set in October 2020 for fastest submission in WNO history, and gives Fornarino the fastest submission in the female divisions overall. Tubby had once held that record with her 43-second submission over Jessa Khan in 2021, before it was broken by Sophia Cassella with her 35-second submission over Jessie Crane in 2022.

Fornarino came into the match on extremely short notice, filling in for the injured WNO flyweight champion Ffion Davies, who was supposed to defend her title against Alequin.

In her post match interview, Fornarino suggested she should be first in line to take on Davies, and also called for a shot against WNO strawweight champ Mayssa Bastos. The strawweight title has been dormant for some time. Bastos earned the title in September 2021 and has not yet defended it.

Fornarino and Bastos last met in a gi match at the 2023 IBJJF Brasileiro in the final, where Fornarino kept a lead for most of the match before Bastos secured a comeback win in the final seconds of the bout.

Tainan Dalpra moves to 2-0 on WNO with milestone win over Taza

Tainan Dalpra is now 2-0 on WNO and in no-gi competition overall after a decision win over multiple-time ADCC and WNO veteran Oliver Taza.

Dalpra showed off his wrestling game at several turns in the match, putting Taza on his back off of single leg attacks. As the match progressed, Dalpra worked his passing game, getting through Taza's guard. Dalpra could not secure a submission, but demonstrated positional dominance over a perennially top-ranked no-gi contender in Taza and proving his high-level no-gi acumen despite his short time competing in the style.

Jacob Couch keeps submission streak alive, earns spot on leaderboard

Jacob Couch put himself in the top-ten on the fastest submission leaderboard with a rapid heel hook victory over Sebastian Rodriguez.

Couch, now 7-5 on WNO, picked up his fifth submission victory on WNO, and followed up on his last outing at ADCC Trials, where he went 7-0 with seven submissions to punch his ticket to the ADCC World Championships in August 2024.

WNO 22 Undercard Results

ADCC Trials winner Elijah Dorsey hit a thunderlock submission from the back against Ivan Herrera in his WNO debut. (watch here)
Daniel Sathler launched a flying triangle and finished with an armbar in his WNO debut over Max Hanson 61 seconds into the match, putting his name in the top-10 on the WNO fastest submissions leaderboard.
Ashlee Funegra defeated Marilyn Cruz via decision in her WNO debut in a demonstration of smooth movement and aggressive attacks.
Checkmat's Dory Aoun won his WNO debut in a close, back and forth match against Who's Next finalist Kyle Chambers.