Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena 4 is taking place on February 25th, 2023 and we can now preview the entire event lineup as the official betting odds have been announced. The full card was announced a while ago and it is one of the most stacked events in recent memory, with several fantastic matchups from start to finish. The main attraction is obviously the fourth match between two bitter rivals, but there’s also an excellent co-main event that sees Ryan’s teammate Giancarlo Bodoni challenging Pedro Marinho for the WNO light-heavyweight title.
There are several ADCC veterans competing elsewhere as well, including a rare superfight appearance by JT Torres as he takes on Magid Hage. Another of Ryan’s teammates is also competing, with Oliver Taza facing Jonnatas Gracie. The sole female matchup sees Amanda Bruse taking on the young and extremely talented Jasmine Rocha, while Kieran Kichuk faces Rene Sousa in the first match of the night. WNO: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena 4 is set to be an exciting night of high-level grappling action between some fantastic competitors, so let’s preview each of the matchups now that the betting odds have been announced.
WNO: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena 4 Preview And Betting Odds
Gordon Ryan (-1300) v Felipe Pena (+675)
The rivalry between Gordon Ryan and Felipe Pena has been ongoing for years already, and it has often boiled over into public view at times. This will be the fourth match between the pair, and they have competed in more than one ruleset over that time. The pair have been debating whether or not to put a time-limit in place for their fourth match but it doesn’t seem likely that this would change the end result. The last time they met, there was no time-limit in place and Ryan managed to bring his personal record against Pena to 1-2 by submitting him. While a lot has changed since then, the core facts of this match remain the same and the betting odds reflect that. Pena has been training hard and has even decided to do his camp at ATOS to give himself the best chance, but Ryan has looked unstoppable in recent years and the most likely outcome is that he levels the score to 2-2.
Giancarlo Bodoni (-460) v Pedro Marinho (+360)
This title-fight has been in the making for quite some time, and was originally scheduled for 2022 before it was delayed until this event. Marinho is the reigning WNO light-heavyweight champion, but the betting odds actually favour Bodoni instead. A large part of that is likely owing to the fact that Bodoni had the performance of a lifetime at ADCC 2022 to win the 88kg division, while Marinho lost in the second round to Vagner Rocha. These two have actually met twice before, with Bodoni winning in the gi back when they were purple belts and Marinho winning in no gi competition much more recently. The co-main event of WNO: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena 4 is actually much closer than the betting odds in this preview would indicate, but they probably do swing the right way and Bodoni seems most likely to take home the belt.
JT Torres (-450) v Magid Hage (+350)
Torres is a two-time ADCC world champion and he’s very deserving of being the heavy favourite coming into this match with Hage. He was only narrowly prevented from winning his third title at ADCC 2022, and he was the favourite to win gold in the division prior to the event taking place too. Even though he was shut down by PJ Barch there, he would still be the sensible choice over most competitors at that weight. To his credit, Hage is no easy match and he’s actually one of the most unpredictable competitors there is. Although Hage is more than capable of pulling of an upset, the smart money is still on Torres to win regardless.
Oliver Taza (-300) v Jonnatas Gracie (+240)
Taza is the favourite in his match with Gracie but and while he is a fantastic competitor, it’s surprising to see how much the odds are swinging his way. Gracie is after all the reigning IBJJF no gi world champion in the medium-heavyweight division and was in fine form throughout 2022, losing just a single match to Mica Galvao. Taza on the other hand was stopped in the opening round of the same division and lost several matches throughout the year, although he did compete significantly more often in fairness. Taza has definitely been more active on the competition scene than Gracie, but that might not be enough to see him through to winning the match and Gracie should really win here.
Amanda Bruse (-150) v Jasmine Rocha (+120)
This is the only women’s match on the card, but it’s one of the most exciting. This is probably going to be the closest match on WNO: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena 4 and the betting odds in this preview reflect that too. Bruse is one of the top female competitors training out of ATOS right now but she’s going to have a really tough challenge from Rocha, who appears to be getting better and better with every single black belt competition she enters. Rocha was designated as an official alternate for ADCC 2022 as a result of her exciting style and impressive performances, and the most likely outcome is that she continues that fine form at this event by winning this match.
Kieran Kichuk (-285) v Rene Sousa (+225)
Kichuk is part of a wave of Canadian grapplers who are starting to find success at the top levels of competition in recent years, and he’s already registered some impressive wins against the likes of Gianni Grippo, Deandre Corbe, and Adam Benayoun. Sousa is a tough opponent for anyone and he’s a frequent competitor in his own right, but the betting odds reflect the difference in the level of competition they’ve found success at. The most likely outcome here is a win for Kichuk, but it’s not as if it’s going to be smooth sailing from start to finish and Sousa is going to make life hard for him.
The full Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan v Felipe Pena 4 event, including all of the matches with betting odds in the preview above, is available to watch live on FloGrappling on February 25th, 2023.
