Gabrieli Pessanha will now be making her debut on the professional no gi grappling circuit, as she faces veteran competitor Paige Ivette at Who’s Number One (WNO) 31 on December 5th, 2025. This is a huge match for the promotion but it’s actually taking place halfway through the main card, as they’ve stacked this event with multiple title-fights. Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith are fighting for the vacant heavyweight belt, but two reigning champions are facing off against tough opponents shortly before that. Up first is Helena Crevar defending her featherweight title against Julia Boscher, and the co-main event will see Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira taking on Deandre Corbe as his latest lightweight challenger.
Despite the fact that there’s three title-fights taking place after it, this match between Pessanha and Ivette is going to be one of the most hotly-anticipated. That’s because Pessanha has already established herself as one of the greatest gi competitors in the history of the sport with multiple IBJJF double grand slams, but there’s still some questions around her recent transition to no gi. She’s been absolutely flawless so far, winning every match she’s had and recently becoming the first person to win an IBJJF no gi double grand slam. The questions come from the change in ruleset, as many elite IBJJF competitors have struggled in submission-only rulesets with decisions in the past.
It’s unlikely that Pessanha does struggle though really, as she’s got a very high finishing-rate and doesn’t often need the judges to win matches. In fact, she’s won every single one of her no gi matches by submission so far. Ivette is a top competitor in her own right though and she’s definitely going to give Pessanha a tough welcome to WNO when they meet on the mats. This match is a big opportunity for her too, as it’s likely that the winner of this will move on to challenge Nathiely De Jesus for the promotion’s heavyweight title next year.
The full Who’s Number One (WNO) 31 live event, including Gabrieli Pessanha making her debut against Paige Ivette, will be available to watch on December 5th, 2025 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
