One of the best grappling matches of the year takes place this Friday in Austin, Texas at Who’s Number One! UFC middleweight Rodolfo Vieira takes on reigning ADCC champion Kaynan Duarte. The contest headlines a grappling event that can be seen live on flograppling.com starting at 8pm eastern time. The match will be 15 minutes long, under no-gi, submission only rules.
The Former Champ
Vieira is a world renowned BJJ practitioner. He’s currently 7-0 as a professional fighter and is coming off a dominant victory back at UFC 248. Not only is Vieira a former ADCC champion, but he’s also a four time IBJJF world champion. Vieira has two fights in the UFC and was victorious in both, winning by arm-triangle on both occasions. He is expected to return to the octagon on 1/16, when he’s scheduled to fight Anthony Hernandez.
The Reigning Champ
Duarte is 23 years old and is regarded as one of the best grapplers in the world. Duarte put the grappling world on notice after being victorious at the ADCC and IBJJF tournaments last year. However, those victories now will come with an asterisk. Duarte was stripped of his 2019 IBJJF title after a positive doping violation.
Duarte is the #3 ranked No-Gi athlete by IBJJF. Rodolfo Viera is currently unranked by IBJJF, mostly due to him pursuing his career in MMA. Duarte trains out of Atos BJJ in San Diego alongside fellow greats Andre Galvao and Lucas Barbosa. Viera trains with the Grappling Fight Team based out of Rio de Janeiro. The two have met before, back at the 2019 Spyder Invitational in which Duarte defeated Viera on points.
One of the best grapplers in the UFC is competing Friday evening. Are you taking him to avenge his loss? Or are you riding with the reigning champ to repeat in victory?
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