Nick Rodriguez, the Million Dollar Grappler, defeated reigning double gold ADCC champion Kaynan Duarte in the WNO 27 main event in Round Rock, Texas to claim his spot among the top active heavyweights in grappling.

Rodriguez spent the better half of the match attacking from the mount, relentlessly attempting to force Duarte's arms overhead, and finishing the match with an attempt at a smother submission. Duarte had the better look early in the match, winning the first wrestling exchange and getting on top early, but the tides turned as Rodriguez wrestled to his feet, took Duarte down and crawled to mount, where he spent nearly nine minutes attacking his fatigued opponent.

More news in the heavyweight division: Luke Griffith defeated Victor Hugo via decision in the co-main event in a wild exchange of dominant positions. Hugo got the early lead on Griffith, taking and holding his back. But Griffith returned the favor, Mounting his opponent and then taking his back to secure the victory.

In the feature title fight of the night, Griffith's New Wave teammate Helena Crevar earned the women's featherweight title, defeating Elisabeth Clay via rear naked choke. Crevar scrambled to the back during a counter attack to Clay's leg lock, and offered up several vicious neck cranks from the back before sinking the choke. At 18 years old, Crevar is now the youngest champion in WNO history.

Andrew Tackett kept his WNO submission streak alive, securing his fourth sequential submission — this time over Fabyury Khrystyan with a heel hook. At one minute 22 seconds, it marks Tackett's fastest submission on WNO, besting his previous record of one minute 52 seconds. It clocks in as the 15th fastest submission in WNO history overall, and the ninth fastest leg lock.

Jiu-Jitsu legend Xande Ribeiro made his WNO debut in front of a sold out home crowd against Richie Martinez and collected a submission victory via kimura. The crowd was electric for the stellar performance from the 44-year old, who appeared to call out WNO light heavyweight champion Pedro Marinho in his post fight interview.

To open the main card, European standout Owen Jones earned his second victory on WNO, this time, a submission via rear naked choke over Julian Espinosa. The lightweights traded positions for the majority of the match, but Jones' best effort came off of a well-timed takedown, which landed him directly in passing position, from which he climbed to the back and worked for the choke.

In the feature fight on the undercard, Chris Wojcik defeated Michael Esquivel via ankle lock after first attempting and nearly finishing his signature Woj Lock. 

WNO 27 Results:

• Nick Rodriguez def Kaynan Duarte via decision
• Luke Griffith def Victor Hugo via decision
• Helena Crevar def Elisabeth Clay via rear naked choke (3:44)
• Andrew Tackett def Fabyury Khrystyan via inside heel hook (1:22)
• Xande Ribeiro def Richie Martinez via kimura (6:21)
• Owen Jones def Julian Espinosa via rear naked choke (12:31)
• Chris Wojcik def Michael Esquivel via ankle lock (2:20)
• Alan Magendzo def Colin Carr via decision
• Ben Eddy def Josh Wyland via triangle (8:43)
• Taylor Hishaw def Trinity Pun via decision

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