The time has finally come and fans have now gotten to see the results of the next stage of the epic rivalry between Gordon Ryan and Felipe Pena at the latest Who’s Number One event. The third match between the pair has been a very long time in the making, after Pena managed to defeat Ryan in both of their original matches. They originally fought back in 2016 in a no-time limit superfight at Studio 540 that Pena went on to win by rear-naked choke, marking the only time that Ryan has been submitted in black belt competition. Shortly after this, they had a rematch in the final of the absolute division at ADCC 2017 where Pena won 6-0 on points.
It’s been almost five years since that second match and Pena remains the only man to defeat Ryan twice, and the only man to submit him. Naturally, Ryan has been eager to level the score against him while he’s been dominating the rest of the BJJ world. He has been so confident in his ability to do so that he actually put up $100,000 of his own money against $10,000 of Pena’s as a prize for the winner of this match, another one to be contested without a time limit.
Flograppling also put together a fantastic card leading up to the match too, with Jacob Couch pulling off an epic hard-fought victory against Jay Rodriguez and Mica Galvao putting on a dominant performance against Alan Sanchez. Then in the co-main event, Nicholas Meregali showed that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with at ADCC 2022 as he defeated the legendary Rafael Lovato Jr by unanimous decision. It was already late by the time that the main event rolled around, and fans were in for a long night by the time all was said and done.
Gordon Ryan put on a convincing display in outworking Felipe Pena but he was never quite able to make the final move. He landed several takedowns but wasn’t really able to pass Pena’s guard and solidify a control position, instead Pena was able to stifle his attempts using 50/50 and the bear-trap. After around forty-five minutes of action Pena was starting to slow down and Ryan finally managed to secure the pass, only for Pena to verbally submit when he did so. It was an unusual end to the match, but his reluctance to continue made more sense when taken in the full context that Pena suffered a devastating loss just 24 hours prior to the event as his long-time friend Leandro Lo was shot and killed in Brazil.
Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena Full Results
Gordon Ryan defeats Felipe Pena via Submission – Verbal Tap
Nicholas Meregali defeats Rafael Lovato Jr. via Decision – Unanimous
Mica Galvao Submits Alan Sanchez via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Beatriz Mesquita defeats Elisabeth Clay via Decision – Unanimous
Jacob Couch defeats Jay Rodriguez via Decision – Unanimous
Fabricio Andrey defeats Fabian Ramirez via Decision – Unanimous
Diogo Reis defeats Estevan Martinez via Decision – Unanimous
The full Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena event replay is available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
