Who’s Number One 23 is scheduled for May 10th, 2024 and we’ve put together a full preview of the event. There will be a series of exciting battles between top competitors throughout the preliminary card and main card, all leading up to a superb main event match between Nicholas Meregali and Vagner Rocha. There will no doubt be plenty of entertaining matches and thrilling finishes throughout the card, but there’s a handful of key matches that fans will be most looking forward to. Felipe Pena and Rafael Lovato Jr will face off in a match between two of the biggest legends to emerge from the sport over the last decade, shortly after an incredibly interesting match between Nicky Ryan and JT Torres; to name two in particular.
Who’s Number One 23 Full Preview
Nicholas Meregali vs Vagner Rocha – Heavyweight
Nicholas Meregali is coming in as the favorite against Vagner Rocha in the main event for several reasons, not least of all the fact that he should have a significant size advantage over him. Both men stood on the podium at ADCC 2022 but Rocha did so at under 88kg, while Meregali won medals at both under 99kg and in the absolute division. Meregali also has youth on his side, as he’s right in the prime of his athletic career and Rocha is coming up on his 42nd birthday. All of that combined with the fact that Meregali has looked absolutely unstoppable in no gi competition lately means that he should be able to get a submission win over Rocha.
Andrew Tackett vs Tommy Langaker – Middleweight
Tackett stepped in to replace an injured Mica Galvao on short notice, but the resulting match is just as great as the one that fans missed out on. The event takes place just a little over a week after he turns 21 and it’s a big opportunity for Andrew Tackett to make a statement by taking out a big name like Tommy Langaker. Tackett might be a very young competitor but he’s coming into this match off a flawless performance that saw him win a gold medal at ADCC Trials this year. Langaker also won ADCC Trials this year but he’s been an elite competitor for a long time before that and although this match will definitely be close, Langaker has just enough of an edge to come away with the win.
Felipe Pena vs Rafael Lovato Jr – Heavyweight
Rafael Lovato Jr is one of the most successful American BJJ competitors of all time, and Felipe Pena has won multiple world titles under different rulesets. They have actually crossed paths once before, all the way back at ADCC 2017 when they met in the semi-final of the under 99kg weight class. Pena won that match by decision and although he didn’t win the whole division, he did go on to win the absolute division that year. Lovato Jr enjoyed a fantastic resurgence at ADCC 2022 where he finished fourth in a very difficult bracket and although he will be tough to beat, Pena will still be considered the slight favorite here.
JT Torres vs Nicky Ryan – Welterweight
JT Torres is a fantastic competitor and he ruled over the under 77kg division at ADCC for four years, right up until he lost on points in the quarter-final of ADCC 2022. He has fantastic wrestling compared to the vast majority of Jiu-Jitsu competitors and he normally melts through his opponents with elite passing. Although Nicky Ryan has developed his standing grappling skills massively over the last few years he will still be at a disadvantage there against Torres and his most likely path to success will be to score points wrestling up from guard or even submitting Torres off his back. Given how defensively-sound Torres always is, that doesn’t seem like a likely outcome and Torres should be able to win a decision in this match.
Jasmine Rocha vs Emily Ferreira – Bantamweight
Emily Ferreira was a top prospect from around 2018 to 2021, as she won the IBJJF No Gi World Championship multiple times at different belt levels. She hasn’t been able to reach the same level of success since being promoted to black belt, but she has showed flashes of brilliance in some of her matches. Jasmine Rocha was also a prospect on the rise around the same time but she has managed to continue her development at the same pace and has just won gold at ADCC West Coast Trials 2024. Although Ferreira definitely has the skill to win this match, Rocha is still the most likely winner and she may even get the submission win given her high-finishing rate so far.
Diogo Reis vs Shay Montague – Featherweight
It might seem unusual to see Diogo Reis competing so far down the preview of the main card, but it’s even more surprising to see him competing at Who’s Number One 23 at all. He is actually coming back off an injury he suffered at WNO 21 that caused him to lose his featherweight title to Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira. He’s not taking it easy in his first match back though, as he’s facing off against one of the top lighter competitors in Europe right now; Shay Montague. This is undoubtedly the toughest test of Montague’s career so far and although there are some questions around what Reis will look like coming back from injury, he’s still the favorite to win this match.
Preliminary Card
Achilles Rocha vs Camron Couch – Light-heavyweight
It’s a family affair in this preview of Who’s Number One 23 as this match contains the third and final member of the Rocha family, Achilles Rocha. Just like his sister Jasmine before him, Rocha has been a talented prospect for several years now and he’s just started to break through to the top level of the sport recently. Camron Couch is a talented grappler in his own right and he will likely push his opponent to the limit, but Rocha should be able to get the win in the end.
Luccas Lira vs Husam Alabed – Light-heavyweight
Husam Alabed has phenomenal standing grappling, courtesy of his extensive collegiate wrestling background. He’ll be facing Luccas Lira and if Lira chooses to stay standing with Alabed for any length of time then he will almost certainly be punished with takedowns that might cost him a decision. Lira is a very well-rounded grappler though and he has had success at a higher level than Alabed in BJJ, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him avoid the standing phase altogether. It’s unlikely that either man will finish the match early, but Lira should be able to win a decision as long as he can stay clear of Alabed’s strengths.
Cassia Moura vs Jessica Crane – Flyweight
Cassia Moura joins her teammate Emily Ferreira in competing at Who’s Number One 23 and just like Ferreira, she’s also a bit of an underdog in this preview. Moura is a really talented young competitor and she’s put on some seriously impressive performances at purple belt, but a match against Jessica Crane is a huge challenge for anyone. Crane won a bronze medal at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship last year and she has since gone on to enjoy some more success at smaller competitions as well. Although Crane is the favorite in this matchup, it definitely won’t be easy for her and Moura might be able to surprise the fans with an upset.
Evan Leve vs Marlon Tanaka – Welterweight
Evan Leve earned his chance to compete at Who’s Number One 23 the hard way, and he’s the only person in the lineup who actually had to win in order to get here. He beat four opponents in a qualifier tournament at the Finishers Open 14, with three of those wins coming by submission. Marlon Tanaka will be Leve’s opponent and he represents a step up in competition compared to the men he had to beat in order to get here, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares. It’s tough to predict this match and it looks as though it should end up being pretty close on paper, but Leve might just be able to do enough to win.
The full Who’s Number One 23: Nicholas Meregali vs Vagner Rocha event, including all of the above matches in this preview, will be available to watch live on May 10th, 2024 on FloGrappling.
