The first match on the main card of Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan vs. Vagner Rocha showed impressive defense from Johnny Tama, but in the end, Oliver Taza‘s leg attacks helped him win the favor of the judges.
Tama pulled guard, and Taza got low to search for a leg entry. After going out of bounds, they returned to the center, with Taza on top and quickly dropping back for a heel hook. He had it locked on tight, but Tama managed to roll out and get his knee free. Tama then came on top, though he didn’t stay there long, as Taza grabbed a single-leg to come to his feet and Tama pulled guard. Taza again went to attack a leg, and Tama managed to capitalize on it and reverse the position to end up in top side control. Tama maintained heavy pressure, keeping Taza beneath him, and Taza eventually succeeded in creating space and escaping to come back to his feet with a little under nine minutes left to go. Taza was then forced to abandon another heel hook attempt thanks to Tama’s impressive defense. A brief scramble with a couple of position reversals led to another leg lock attempt from Taza, who then came on top while Tama played guard.
With about five minutes to go, Taza attacked another heel hook, and Tama managed to separate his opponent’s legs and escape. Taza then returned to working from the top position for a short time before Tama worked to reverse the position. Taza worked an arm drag to try to work his way beneath his opponent, and Tama pulled himself away from danger. Taza ended up on the bottom, and Tama again managed to pass his guard, though Taza was easily able to escape from this position the second time around. Tama made a final effort to come on top in the last few seconds of the match, but couldn’t capitalize on it before time ran out.
Oliver Taza was awarded the win via decision.
