The WNO heavyweight title is on the line once again for a juggernaut of a matchup between Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith!

These two are no strangers to one another. Felipe and Luke have now fought two times, but Felipe's history with the Kingsway stable goes back much further than that with his historic rivalry with former WNO heavyweight champion Gordon Ryan.

Before we dive into their history specifically, let's dive into a quick timeline of the WNO heavyweight championship itself.

• September 2021: Tim Spriggs def Haisam Rida, Tex Johnson, and Kaynan Duarte to win the inaugural WNO championship.
• July 2022: Tim Spriggs vacates heavyweight title.
• July 2022: Gordon Ryan def Pedro Marinho via rear naked choke to win vacant heavyweight title.
• August 2022: Gordon Ryan def Felipe Pena to defend heavyweight title.
• October 2023: Gordon Ryan def Patrick Gaudio via armbar to defend heavyweight title.
• June 2024: Gordon Ryan def Josh Saunders via outside heel hook to defend the heavyweight title.
• May 2025: Gordon Ryan vacates the heavyweight title due to health issues.
• December 2025: Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith set to compete for the vacant heavyweight title at WNO 31.

Gordon Ryan has been one of the most dominant heavyweight champions in WNO history. But since he has vacated earlier this year, it now opens the door for the next generation of Kingsway athletes to step in and take over the heavyweight throne at WNO. He has a tall task in Felipe Pena standing in the way of keeping the heavyweight title in the Kingsway family.

The History of Felipe Pena vs Luke Griffith

Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith first crossed paths in the +99kg final of the 2024 ADCC World Championship. In this first clash of Goliaths we saw Luke Griffith come out on a mission and secure a takedown early on Pena. He immediately got into his outside and north south passing game and started chipping away at Pena's guard. He eventually created back exposure and had a serious look at Pena's back. But, Pena being the veteran that he is, weathered the storm and turned the tides in his favor late into the match. After fighting off Griffith's attacks, we saw Pena stand and take things to the feet late into the match. This is when Pena was able to secure a takedown of his own and immediately find the back of Griffith. From then on it was all Pena. He quickly secured the rear naked choke and the ADCC gold.

Their second clash took place at CJI 2. Team Atos and Team New Wave met in the opening round of the second day of action. This was right after Craig Jones announced that there would now be a $50k bonus for submissions. I don't really think that these guys needed anything else on the line for this meeting, but the prospect of a $50k bonus definitely doesn't hurt with raising the stakes.

In this match we saw Felipe Pena come out of the gates like a man possessed. Within the first 20-seconds we saw Felipe Pena taking the back of Luke Griffith and hunting the submission early. It was clear that Pena was on a mission to not just get the submission, but he wanted to get the submission early. Griffith defended the early onslaught and eventually found himself back on top facing Pena's elite guard. Griffith forced Pena to turtle and immediately made his play for the back of Pena. But, Pena was able to induce a scramble that allowed him to come out of the exchange back on top in north south with Griffith. Again Griffith survived and the two traded exchanges before we finally saw Pena passing again and this time securing the armbar for the victory.

There is no doubt that a $50k bonus adds some extra incentive to go out and hunt the submission on your opponent, but I do not believe that this is the biggest motivator between Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith. It's no secret that Felipe Pena does not like Gordon Ryan. Once the dust settles and we look back at the history of jiu-jitsu, Felipe Pena and Gordon Ryan's feud will go down as one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport, which was certainly a major proponent in bringing the sport to where it is now. I think that rivalry extends far beyond just Felipe and Gordon and there is nothing that Felipe wants more than to smash the next generation of talent coming up under Gordon Ryan's wing. I think this is the biggest motivator for Felipe Pena.

There is a lot riding on this third meeting between Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith. For Pena it is an opportunity to put the final nail in the coffin on Luke Griffith, take the belt that was previously held by Gordon Ryan, and solidify himself as the number one heavyweight grappler in the world. For Griffith it is his chance to get one back over Pena and, more importantly, show the evolution of his game and that he truly is ready to take over for Gordon Ryan as the top of the mantle for competitors in the heavyweight world. 

It is not every event that you get to see the number one (Felipe Pena) and number two (Luke Griffith) ranked grapplers at heavyweight throw down for the WNO heavyweight championship. A matchup where we truly are going to find out Who's Number One.

WNO 31 | Friday, December 5th in Austin, TX

WNO 31 will be here before you know it. WNO 31 returns to Austin, Texas on Friday, December 5th and brings a stacked card to the Lone Star Capitol, featuring three title fights and we will see a new WNO Heavyweight Champion crowned! Here's the full main card:

WNO 31: Pena vs Griffith Full Card

• WNO Men's Heavyweight Championship - Felipe Pena vs Luke Griffith
• WNO Women's Featherweight Championship - Helena Crevar vs Julia Boscher
• Light Heavyweight Bout - Xande Ribeiro vs Faris Benlamkadem
• Heavyweight Bout - Gabi Pessanha vs Paige Ivette Clymer
• Light Heavyweight Bout - Felipe 'Laranjinha' Costa vs Abe La Montagne
• Middleweight Bout - Oliver Taza vs Chris Wojcik
• Preliminary Bout - Joslyn Molina vs Katie Bochenek
• Preliminary Bout - Grayson Henley vs Michael Bannach
• Preliminary Bout - Sean Magnus vs Nick Fritz

Make sure you are tuning in to watch it all right here on FloGrappling.com!

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