The most recent year of WNO produced some of the most exciting jiu-jitsu matches in history. Champions were crowned, stars were made, rivalries were born, and submissions were made popular on the WNO mats. With the 2021 season complete, and the first event of the 2022 season just a few weeks away, now is our chance to look back on the past season and identify which teams, athletes, divisions and techniques stood out most.

97 matches

The 2021 WNO season featured 97 matches across 7 events. 47 of those matches (48.4%) were stopped early due to submission, disqualification or injury. In total, WNO produced 18 hours, 44 minutes of grappling action in 2021. The average match length was 11 minutes, 35 seconds.

46.4% submission rate

45 of the 97 matches this year ended in submission, while one ended in injury and one ended in DQ. Kade Ruotolo had the most submissions of any male competitor this year, securing three darces and a buggy choke.

Six women are tied with two submissions as the most in 2021. They are:

• Rafaela Guedes

• Tammi Musumeci

• Danielle Kelly

• Jessa Khan

• Amanda "Tubby" Alequin

• Grace Gundrum

Haisam Rida was responsible for the fastest submission of the year — the second fastest submission of all time — a 36-second armbar over Miha Perhavec. 

Tubby Alequin earned the fastest submission in the female divisions, a 43-second toe hold against Jessa Khan.

Armbars accounted for ten submissions this year, the most frequent successful attack on WNO in 2021. There were seven rear naked chokes and seven inside heel hooks.

84 competitors

84 individual athletes competed on the WNO mats in 2021, including 60 who made their WNO debuts this year. 

Jacob Couch was the most active competitor. He made his debut in February, and finished the year with a 3-3 record, two submission victories, and a third place finish in the middleweight division at the WNO Championship.

WNO Women’s Heavyweight Champion Rafaela Guedes was the most active female competitor of the year; she went 4-1 this season with two submission victories, collecting her title via submission at the WNO Championship.

37 teams

More than three dozen teams were represented on the WNO mats in 2021. 

The most active team was Atos, which was represented in 22 matches this year. Atos team members went 15-7 on WNO, participating in the most matches and collecting the most wins of any team this year. But the now-defunct Danaher Death Squad was the most successful in terms of winning percentage; DDS members went 11-2. That’s an 84.6% win rate.

Since DDS split into two factions, Damien Anderson has been the only athlete to represent B-Team, bringing his squad to 1-0, while New Wave Jiu-Jitsu representatives went 0-6.

Anderson represented New Wave at the WNO Championship, where he lost twice. Giancarlo Bodoni lost three times at the WNO Championship, and Oliver Taza lost to Levi Jones-Leary in October.

11 weight classes

The 2021 season of WNO featured 11 weight classes:

• Men’s Bantamweight (135)

• Men’s Featherweight (145)

• Men’s Lightweight (155)

• Men’s Welterweight (170)

• Men’s Middleweight (185)

• Men’s Light Heavyweight (205)

• Men’s Heavyweight (205+)

• Women’s Strawweight (115)

• Women’s Flyweight (125)

• Women’s Bantamweight (135)

• Women’s Heavyweight

There were also seven catchweight bouts.

The men’s middleweight and women’s strawweight classes had the highest number of matches: 17 each. Ten of the 17 matches in the strawweight division culminated in submission, the most of any weight category.

The division with the highest submission rate was the men’s bantamweight division; that’s entirely due to the performances of division champ Mikey Musumeci who competed in all of the bantamweight matches this year, and won three of four by submission. 

The division with the next best submission rate was the lightweight division, where 63.6% of the matches ended by submission.

8 champions

Men’s Bantamweight: Mikey Musumeci (3-1)

Men’s Lightweight: Kade Ruotolo (6-0)

Men’s Middleweight: Tye Ruotolo (6-1)

Men’s Heavyweight: Tim Spriggs (3-0)

Women’s Strawweight: Mayssa Bastos (4-0)

Women’s Flyweight: Ffion Davies (1-0)

Women’s Bantamweight: Beatriz Mesquita (1-0)

Women’s Heavyweight: Rafaela Guedes (4-1)