Nick Rodriguez and Elder Cruz will both make their sophomore appearances on the WNO stage on January 21 in Dallas, TX, as they square off in a match that’s sure to consume every inch of mat space.

Checkmat’s “El Monstro,” Elder Cruz, has had a breakout year at brown belt, winning Pans and No-Gi Words, and taking silver at the IBJJF World Championships. He was also the runner up at the 2021 ADCC North American Trials in the 88 kg division. He’s a skillful wrestler, and has honed his style in taking his opponents down and smashing them.

He’ll have his toughest challenge to date against Nicky Rod, the no.5-ranked heavyweight. Rodriguez, now representing B-Team, won an ADCC silver medal in 2019 with just a few years of jiu-jitsu training, and has been refining his game since. In his WNO debut against Yuri Simoes, Rodriguez flaunted his developments, using his body lock to pass Simoes’ guard twice.

While Rodriguez’ jiu-jitsu has grown more technical since his ADCC debut in 2019, it has never been wanting for flashiness or explosiveness. And this matchup with Cruz has the recipe to bring the athletically-charged side of Rodriguez' game to the forefront. Neither man is likely to want to pull guard, or stay on his back for longer than necessary. 

This could give us gritty wrestling exchanges from end to end of the mat, featuring heavy collar ties and powerful shots. Anything could happen in the scramble, as both of these natural wrestlers have become increasingly sharp submission artists. This bout has all the makings for fight of the night on a card full of exciting matchups.

About WNO: Jones vs Marinho

WNO: Craig Jones vs Pedro Marinho will take place in Dallas, TX on Friday, January 21, 2022. Tickets are on sale now to watch the event live in person. Or, watch it live on FloGrappling and the FloSports App. The event will begin at 8 p.m. ET. Three prelims will begin the event, and will be streamed live on YouTube and Facebook, followed by the main card.

Main card matches will only be streamed on FloGrappling.

The main event, and all undercard matches, are scheduled for 15 minutes under WNO rules.

 The remainder of the card will be announced throughout this week.

The press conference will be streamed live on YouTube, Facebook and FloGrappling at 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 20. Also on Thursday, FloGrappling will host a seminar featuring Craig Jones in Dallas. Tickets to the seminar are available here.