Diogo Reis will putting his Who’s Number One featherweight title on the line against Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira at WNO 21 on November 30th, 2023. It’s a fantastic matchup and one of several title-fights that have been booked for the event, including the main event between Gordon Ryan and Lucas ‘Hulk’ Barbosa. The lineup for WNO 21 features a number of other elite grapplers competing in superfights, and the other title-fight will see Pedro Marinho defends his light-heavyweight title against Rafael Lovato Jr.
This match between Diogo Reis and Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira is unique among the title-fights booked for WNO 21 though, as Reis has only recently won his title at the last WNO event. He had to beat Keith Krikorian and Gabriel Sousa on the same night at WNO 20: Night of Champions and took home the belt after two fantastic performances. He hasn’t taken any easy match for his first title-defense either, as Oliveira is one of the best grapplers in the division and the pair have plenty of history together.
Reis and Oliveira first crossed paths back in the final of the ADCC South American Trials in 2022, where Reis won a referee decision. The next time they met was in a gi match shortly afterwards, and Oliveira got revenge by winning 2-0 on points in the semi-final of the IBJJF World Championship 2022. Their third match also took place in the gi, with Oliveira winning on advantages in the final of the IBJJF Pan Championship this year. Although Oliveira is winning the series between them 2-1, Reis has won the only no gi match between them and it’ll interesting to see what happens at Who’s Number One 21.
FloGrappling announced the news that Diogo Reis will attempt to defend his featherweight title against Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira at WNO 21 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
