WNO 19 gets BJJ grudge match, Lachlan Giles reveals PED test results

Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour 2023/24 season kicks off

The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour has just begun again, with the traditional opening tournament in Rio de Janeiro. As always, top BJJ competitors from around the world traveled to compete in the event and get themselves off to a good start for the season. Yatan Bueno continued his phenomenal form on the circuit by winning the super-heavyweight division in style, as did the exciting young competitor Uanderson Ferreira in the middleweight division.

The women’s middleweight division was equally exciting, and Ingridd Alves came home with a gold medal from it. The most stacked women’s division was likely at lightweight though, where Vitoria Vieira defeated Maria Delahaye in the final of the bracket. There was a huge upset in the women’s roosterweight division too, as Eliana Carauni put on one of the best performances of her career. She defeated Brenda Larissa, Isadora Maggioni, Diana Teixeira, and Nathalie Touson in one day to win gold at that weight.

Full results from the event can be found here.

Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu Tour kicks off in Rio de Janeiro https://t.co/3riw4r6Swe pic.twitter.com/ckS7j5ySiV
— News | أخبار (@EmiratesNews) June 10, 2023

Lachlan Giles reveals results of Australian grapplers’ PEDs tests

Lachlan Giles is one of the most successful BJJ competitors to ever emerge from Australia and he’s recently been given a huge opportunity to develop the sport there. An anonymous donor gave him $100,000 USD to help build the sport in his home-country, and gave him free reign over deciding how to distribute the funds. He quickly decided to allocate the money to top competitors for them to do with as they wish; whether that be training, competing, or even just living as a full-time athlete.

Giles set out a few different criteria to determine who would qualify for the funding and one of the most important was that they be a clean athlete willing to pass a drug test. He conducted the tests within 2 weeks and every athlete who submitted to testing actually passed, for 10 total recipients. They range from ADCC veterans like Jeremy Skinner and Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths all the way to top prospects like Nicholas Maglicic and Nadia Frankland.

Nicholas Meregali vs Kaynan Duarte announced for WNO

The 19th Who’s Number One event has now been scheduled for September 30th, 2023 and the promotion has already announced a fantastic main event for the card. Nicholas Meregali has been booked to compete against Kaynan Duarte in the fifth match between them, with both men looking to gain the upper hand in their series. Despite the amount of times they’ve met before, this will actually be the first no gi match between the two competitors.

Their previous matches have all been in the gi and the current record between them sits at 2-2, with Meregali being the only one to register a submission finish. This happened in their second match together, with all three of the others being close matches that went to either points or a decision. There’s no news yet on who else will be competing on the card, but if past WNO events are anything to go by then it’ll be stacked with top talent.

The main event has been set for Tezos WNO (Who’s Number One).

Nicholas Meregali will take on Kaynan Duarte on @FloGrappling 🥋 pic.twitter.com/KjQdH67NFj
— Combat Sports Today 📰 (@CSTodayNews) June 15, 2023

Great lineup confirmed for Main Character Jiu-Jitsu 1

Main Character Jiu-Jitsu is a brand new grappling promotion based in Austin, Texas and they’ve put together a great card for their first event on July 1st, 2023. The main event will see IBJJF purple and brown belt no gi world champion Andrew Tackett taking on top 10th Planet competitor Derek Rayfield. If that alone isn’t enough, another 10th Planet veteran Ben Eddy will be competing against Steve Wojcik and Lauren Sears will be facing Ana Garcia.

The main attraction is undoubtedly the women’s 145lbs grand prix though, and there’s several top talents competing in the lineup. Trinity Pun has been a top prospect for quite some time and has shown signs of breaking into the highest level, while Nora Schultz is one of the best female competitors to come out of Australia. They have some tough opposition in the form of Submission Underground absolute champion Amanda Loewen and Medusa veteran Kiaya Jackson, among several others.

cowboys and aliens 🤠👽

been a little banged up these last few weeks, but july 1st i’ll be back on the mat taking on a high-level black belt on the inaugural Main Character Jiu-Jitsu show down in austin.

very excited for this one. ppv info coming soon. pic.twitter.com/L6KxEgCP9j
— chris wojcik (@chrismwojcik) May 22, 2023

BJJ Quick Hits

BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia shared an update on his cancer treatment with fans, and he’s been given great news on his progress.
Marvel star and WWE legend Dave Bautista, often referred to as Batista, has just been promoted to brown belt in BJJ.
FloGrappling has just announced their first ever ‘Submission Week’ which will see a series of different highlights released between June 19th to 25th.
Top 10th Planet competitor Nathan Orchard was just promoted to third degree black belt by Eddie Bravo.

Technique Corner

Triangle Choke from the back

“Straitjacket Triangle”

Would you hit this in tournament? #bjj #jiujitsu #bjjtechnique #grappling pic.twitter.com/Ossh57I3yF
— Jake Watson (@jakewatsonmedia) June 8, 2023

Duck-under from Underhook control

How to do a DUCK 🦆 UNDER with an UNDERHOOK #bjj #jiujitsu #grappling #bjjtwitter #brazilianjiujitsu #bjjtakedowns pic.twitter.com/Y7cTbJ6NCI
— Old Man BJJ Black Belt (@BjjTip) June 16, 2023