Following the success of the Who’s Number One superfight cards, the jiu-jitsu world has been eagerly anticipating the release of the full brackets of the upcoming WNO Championship, set to take place in mid-September.
Now, the promotion has released the full bracket for both their 115lb division and their 155lb division, and to put it simply, this card is going to be stacked.
The 115lb division will be comprised of eight women: Mayssa Bastos, Danielle Kelly, Jessa Khan, Amanda “Tubby” Alequin, Grace Gundrum, Alex My Nguyen, Jessica Crane, and Tammi Musumeci. Yes, Tammi Musumeci.
The three-time No-Gi Worlds champion and two-time Pans champion hasn’t competed since 2019, when she and her brother (155lb WNO Championship contender Mikey Musumeci) won Worlds. She’s been busy since then, and in fact, she graduated from law school last year.
View this post on Instagram
Tammi will have her work cut out for her in this division, which is filled with some of the top talent in the no-gi submission-only scene. 10th Planet’s Gundrum, for example, has long been one of the top young standouts in jiu-jitsu, submitting Pati Fontes at last year’s F2W 155 to claim the flyweight title. Gundrum also holds a notable win against Kelly, and fans will be hoping to see this rematch come to fruition. Kelly took home a submission win against Roxanne Modafferi at Submission Hunter Pro 60, and she most recently won her main event match at Fury Pro Grappling against Sofia Amarante.
Another potential rematch for Kelly comes with the inclusion of Khan, who won her black belt debut against the Silver Fox athlete at a WNO event back in February. Khan’s most recent appearance at WNO saw her take home another big win when she submitted Fontes back in May. There’s more rematch potential in this bracket forKhan with the inclusion of Bastos as well, who stopped Khan in the semifinals at No-Gi Pans earlier this year. Bastos, who also defeated Gundrum at WNO at the end of 2020, went on to win gold at No-Gi Pans, marking her second time making it to the top of the podium at the prestigious event.
Crane is another WNO veteran, and though her most recent appearance for the promotion saw her tap out against Kelly, she added a submission against Lauren Sears to her record back in April. At the same event, Nguyen took on Gundrum in a superfight. Though Nguyen didn’t come home with the win that time around, she’s been building an extensive and successful competitive resume at some of the biggest tournaments in the world throughout her BJJ career. Alequin, a No-Gi Worlds and No-Gi Pans champion, is also a brilliant addition to this division, especially with a big recent win over Nathalie Ribeiro. Alequin also recently made history by becoming the first female two-division F2W champion at F2W 171.
With a star-studded 155lb division set to go as well, this is looking to be one of the biggest cards of the year so far.
View this post on Instagram
The WNO Championship will take place on September 25-26 and can be streamed live on FloGrappling.
