Who’s Number One: Nicky Rodriguez v Felipe Pena took place on February 25th, 2023 and the stacked card delivered exciting results all night long. The main event only came together at the last minute as it was originally supposed to be the fourth the match in the rivalry between Pena and Gordon Ryan. With just a matter of days to go before the event took place, disaster struck and Ryan withdrew due to an illness before being replaced by Rodriguez. Despite the fact that Rodriguez had virtually no time to prepare for an elite opponent like Pena, the match was still just as close as you’d expect.
Rodriguez and Pena took each other to the very limit in their thirty minute match and it was impossible to know which way the judges were going to lean. In the end they gave Pena the decision and the record between the pair moved to 1-1 as Rodriguez won their first match back at ADCC 2022. The co-main event was significantly clearer, as Pedro Marinho put his title on the line against Giancarlo Bodoni in a long-awaited rematch. Marinho dominated the match and although he couldn’t find the finish at any point, he won a pretty clean-cut decision. It wasn’t a very successful outing for the grapplers at New Wave Jiu-Jitsu, as Bodoni and Ryan’s teammate Oliver Taza also lost a decision to Jonnatas Gracie.
Who’s Number One: Nicky Rodriguez v Felipe Pena Full Results
Felipe Pena defeats Nicky Rodriguez via Decision – Unanimous
Pedro Marinho defeats Giancarlo Bodoni via Decision – Unanimous
Marinho retains the WNO Light-heavyweight world championship
JT Torres defeats Magid Hage via Decision – Unanimous
Jonnatas Gracie defeats Oliver Taza via Decision – Unanimous
Jasmine Rocha defeats Amanda Bruse via Submission – Smother from Mount
Rene Sousa defeats Kieran Kichuk via Submission – Kneebar
Stephen Martinez defeats Calon Sabino via Decision – Unanimous
Dominic Mejia defeats Thien Luu-Nguyen via Decision – Unanimous
The full Who’s Number One: Nicky Rodriguez v Felipe Pena event replay, including all of the above results, is available to watch on FloGrappling.
