WNO 31 Recap: Luke Griffith Submits Felipe Pena Amid Controversy Over Submission Duration

John Davis

Who’s Number One 31 in Austin, Texas delivered two thrilling championship bouts that showcased the highest level of submission grappling.

Helena Crevar successfully defended her Who’s Number One women’s featherweight championship against Julia Boscher in a dominant performance that showcased why she’s got the fans behind her. The 18-year-old from Kingsway Jiu Jitsu needed just 5 minutes and 8 seconds to secure a submission victory over her 30-year-old opponent.

From the opening moments, Crevar established her strategy, immediately attacking with leg entanglements that would define the entire match. After an aggressive start with both competitors working tie-ups and positioning, Crevar executed “a beautiful move from triangle into leg,” securing a deep inside heel hook position that had commentators believing the match could end within the first minute.

Boscher demonstrated impressive defensive skills, managing to escape the initial heel hook attempt through excellent leg positioning and hand fighting. The commentators praised her defense noting how she kept “that bottom leg away” and worked to prevent Crevar from securing the crucial grip needed to finish. Boscher’s back-stepping defense and ability to push the attacking leg away bought her precious time but Crevar remained relentless in her pursuit.

The match became a tactical chess match of leg entanglements with Crevar transitioning between heel hooks and straight footlocks while Boscher countered with her own attacking attempts.

Despite Boscher’s valiant defensive efforts, the constant pressure eventually took its toll. Crevar switched to an Aoki lock. The heel slipped out from the straight footlock position and Crevar secured the match-ending submission.

Post-match, Crevar expressed satisfaction with her performance stating:

“I was able to showcase different aspects of my game, like attacking the legs, going into the upper body, and some of my wrestling.”

She also expressed interest in defending her title again and pursuing a second belt at 155 pounds (70 kg).

The heavyweight championship trilogy between Felipe Pena and Luke Griffith reached its conclusion at WNO 31, delivering the dramatic finish fans anticipated. With the vacant heavyweight title on the line, these two star stepped onto the mats for a 15-minute battle that would ultimately be decided in under four minutes.

The match began with intense hand fighting as both competitors worked to establish their grips. Commentators noted that Pena appeared to be keeping Griffith standing possibly setting up for one of his signature blast doubles that had worked against Griffith at ADCC. Meanwhile Griffith demonstrated his renowned ability to attack from standing positions looking for his characteristic ducks and slide-bys to get to the back.

The action escalated when Griffith snatched a single leg transitioning to a guillotine attempt. Though the submission didn’t materialize, Griffith successfully used the single leg to secure top position. From there Pena immediately began working his defensive game attempting to entangle Griffith’s legs in bear traps to create scrambling opportunities.

The decisive moment came when Griffith capitalized on a scramble to take Pena’s back. Despite Pena’s desperate attempts to roll and escape Griffith maintained control and locked in a body triangle. With one hook secured and then the second Griffith worked to get his choking hand in position across Pena’s face. Once the rear-naked choke was locked in the finish came quickly.

The submission sparked immediate controversy as Pena appeared frustrated after the tap suggesting Griffith held the choke slightly longer than necessary. Griffith later addressed this in his post-match interview stating he was waiting for the referee to stop the match:

“When the belt is on the line, you gotta wait till the ref stops it.”

The victory was particularly meaningful as he avenged two previous submission losses to Pena including an armbar defeat at CJI2. In his victory speech Griffith thanked his Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu team specifically mentioning John Danaher, Gordon Ryan, Gary Tonon, and Nicholas Meregali.

Gordon Ryan  praised his student’s performance noting the psychological difficulty of defeating someone who had previously submitted you twice.

WNO Results: Here’s Who Won At WNO 31

John Davis