ADCC 2022 alumni Brianna Ste-Marie and Mayssa Bastos will be facing off in the new main event of Who’s Number One on Friday, November 11, per reporting by FloGrappling’s Mariana Viana. Ste-Marie vs Bastos replaces the original main event, a match between ADCC 2022 champion Giancarlo Bodoni and Gracie Barra standout Pedro Marinho, which was canceled due to injury.
As Kendall Reusing enthuses in the comments of the Instagram announcement, Ste-Marie vs Bastos marks WNO’s first ever female headliner, which presents these two highly-decorated women with an opportunity to make history on the Tezos mats.
WNO’s first female headliner arrives at a timely moment, as newly crowned ADCC queen Ffion Davies recently published an Instagram post criticizing a noticeable lack of high-profile opportunities for women at the top of the sport. “Not having women on your shows at this point is just plain embarrassing,” wrote Davies. “Having just one match on the undercard as some sort of ‘novelty’ is embarrassing. Having just two divisions is embarrassing. Men being silent on these issues is embarrassing. Believe in the potential of [women’s jiu-jitsu]. We will be in a never-ending loop if no one takes the risk and steps forward.”
Davies’ post has garnered upward of 14,000 likes on Instagram. Medusa 3’s EBI bantamweight champ Claire North chimed in, adding in the comments, “Doing ‘Road to ADCC’ features on all 5 of the men’s divisions and zero on the two women’s divisions is embarrassing. People will never know how exciting we are if we are never given coverage.”
Come November 11, Ste-Marie and Bastos will, perhaps, have a chance to start turning that tide.
As for the gentlemen, the reshuffling of WNO’s November 11 fight card will also see fan favorite Jacob “Hillbilly Hammer” Couch face off against Bruno Matias in the co-main event, while Damien Anderson replaces Josh Cisneros against teen phenom Cole Abate.
The current full card is as follows:
Jacob Couch vs Bruno Matias
Cole Abate vs Damien Anderson
Haisam Rida vs Luke Griffith
Ethan Crelinsten vs Fabricio Andrey
Andy Varela vs Jozef Chen
Undercard matches:
Rosa Walsh vs Emily Fernandez
Mourece Ramirez vs Keven Carrasco
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