ADCC veteran Oliver Taza and 17-year-old phenom Micael Galvao filled their entire fifteen-minute match with nonstop action tonight at Who’s Number One: Jones vs. Ruotolo.
Galvao took a shot and was shut down by Taza. The athletes wrestled on the feet, with Galvao being the more aggressive of the two at the start but Taza going for single-legs. Taza, a notorious leg-locker, eventually did pull guard, but it ended up being to his disadvantage as Galvao quickly passed to side control. Taza stayed stuck there until a little under the eleven-minute mark before managing to create space and prompting Galvao to stand up. Taza chased him up with a single-leg, sending Galvao stumbling out of bounds. Taza shot for another single-leg, but it was Galvao’s takedown that brought the match to the ground again. Taza wrapped up half-guard while Galvao body-locked his opponent. The ten-minute mark saw the judges favoring Galvao.
Taza worked his way beneath Galvao, apparently trying to attack a leg, while Galvao tried to use the position to take the back. Galvao climbed his way up and was in the process of getting his hooks in when they moved out of bounds. After they were reset, Taza tried to explode out of the position, and Galvao moved to a half-mount with a body triangle secured. A back-and-forth battle ensued, with Galvao trying to take either the back or mount, while Taza tried to escape the position. Galvao then shot for a triangle, and in an instant, Taza escaped and went for a leg lock. With neither submission successful, both athletes separated and returned to their feet.
Taza again went for a single-leg, and Galvao defended. The next takedown from Taza succeeded, and he kept Galvao down briefly before a scramble brought the match back to the feet. Galvao tried to throw Taza down from a double-overhook grip, but Taza quickly recovered. Taza went for a takedown-to-guard-pull just as the five-minute mark hit and showed the judges still favoring Galvao. Taza kept up the pace with a snapdown attempt that Galvao shut down, with Galvao himself then trying to snatch up a leg for a takedown. Another snapdown from Taza brought Galvao briefly to his knees. Galvao then rolled and threw up a triangle that Taza managed to escape.
Taza stepped over Galvao for a leg lock attempt, though Galvao slipped out before he found himself in danger. Taza tried to bring Galvao to the ground, but Galvao countered and forced Taza down, ending up inside his closed guard with a little over two minutes left. Taza’s attempt to get under Galvao to grab a leg led to Galvao standing up. Galvao then took the back and pulled Taza to the ground, gaining the top position. Taza found space and worked his way out and back to the feet. Taza scooped up another single-leg and backed Galvao up until they went off the mat.
With ten seconds to go, Taza pulled guard and came on top to try to attack a leg one more time, but Galvao defended successfully until time ran out.
Micael Galvao was declared the winner of the match by decision.
