At tonight’s WNO Championship, a stacked strawweight division concluded with a final between Grace Gundrum and Mayssa Bastos.
The final was a rematch between the athletes — in their first meeting, nearly a year ago, Bastos handed Gundrum a rare defeat in a WNO superfight.
Bastos pulled guard, and Gundrum worked on closing the distance. Bastos used the crab-ride to work to get to the back. Gundrum nearly escaped her control, but Bastos reacted quickly, sinking in a hook while Gundrum defended. Gundrum capitalized on a brief opportunity to escape and returned to attacking from the top while Bastos played guard. Bastos briefly attacked a leg, which didn’t appear to faze Gundrum. The athletes continued their passing battle, and Bastos again tried for a leg lock. The next leg lock attempt came from Gundrum, whose legs were quickly untangled by Bastos.
With about eighteen minutes to go, Bastos came up on top and was warned by the referee for disengaging as Gundrum moved forward to attack. The position reversed again, with Gundrum coming up on top. She continued to stay forward with her pressure while Bastos hunted her legs. As the clock wound down to the eleven-minute mark, Bastos was warned by the referee for playing too much defense. She immediately attacked a leg, and Gundrum pulled herself out before she was presented with a significant submission risk. At the second ten-minute mark, it was announced that the judges favored Gundrum after having favored Bastos in the first.
Bastos tried to come up for a sweep, and Gundrum chased her back down with a single-leg. The competitors re-entered their familiar battle of passing vs. retention, and Bastos soon received the first penalty of the match for a lack of action. Bastos then showed us a more dynamic guard, inverting and searching for another opportunity to use the crab ride to get to Gundrum’s back. Four minutes to go, and Bastos tried for another leg lock, instead managing to come on top and trying to pass Gundrum’s guard. Gundrum locked up quarter-guard, but Bastos slipped past to get mount and search for a head-arm choke with two and a half minutes left. Bastos adjusted her grip, though she still wasn’t able to finish the submission before time ran out. The attempt, however, was enough to put her in the favor of the judges.
Mayssa Bastos was declared the winner by unanimous decision and claimed the WNO Championship strawweight title.
