Tim Spriggs has been stripped of his WNO Heavyweight Championship, leaving the title vacant for Gordon Ryan vs. Pedro Marinho on July 14th’s Who’s Next Finale.
Spriggs title was stripped without announcement or explanation, but it would appear to be due to inactivity. He is currently coaching across Craig Jones on the ‘Who’s Next’ reality series, and while many spectators expected Spriggs and Jones to compete on July 14th’s finale, they won’t be. @positivemikeflo of FloGrappling alluded to the reasoning in his own comment section, stating, “we tried, can’t force people to compete.”
Marinho now stands in place to not only defeat probably the best grappler on the planet, but to also be the second competitor in WNO to become a two-division champ, as he defeated Craig Jones for the Light Heavyweight Championship earlier this year. The only other two-division champ is Tye Ruotolo, who has won the Middleweight and Welterweight titles.
Gordon Ryan will be making his second appearance of 2022, having defeated Jacob Couch earlier this year. He’s currently making a successful comeback following a hiatus for health issues and is slated for an active year, with an upcoming rematch against Felipe Peña and ADCC Worlds in September.
Ryan vs. Marinho goes down at the Who’s Next Finale on July 14th and can be streamed live on FloGrappling.
