UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 had a top notch BJJ main event, but it won’t be pushing through. The UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 (UFC FPI 10) headliner has been scrapped.
Ffion Davies vs. Adele Fornarino was originally a coup …
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 had a top notch BJJ main event, but it won’t be pushing through.
The UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 (UFC FPI 10) headliner has been scrapped.
Ffion Davies vs. Adele Fornarino was originally a coup for the UFC, as they beat other Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) promotions to what is arguably the best match up possible in the sport today. Unfortunately, that bout between the two top pound-for-pound female grapplers won’t be pushing through on this event.
Davies, a seven-time world champion across IBJJF gi, no gi, and ADCC, sustained an injury that forced her out of the UFC FPI 10 main event.
“I have some unfortunate news. I’m no longer able to do my match on March 6, on UFC Fight Pass against Adele (Fornarino),” Davies said on Instagram. “It’s pretty frustrating. I sustained an injury last week to my shoulder, so I’ll be out of action for the next few weeks.
“I’m frustrated. I’m sad,” Davis said, before apologizing about the cancellation. “I hope to be back in action in May, as the injury doesn’t seem to require surgery or anything like that — I hope. I just need to rehab and focus on getting healthy and fully recovered.”
There’s no official word on what’s next for Fornarino, but with the event less than two weeks away, it looks like she’s just out of the card completely. Hopefully Fornarino can get rebooked on the next UFC FPI card, and this match up with Davies can also be seen down the road.
The full UFC FPI 10 line up is below.
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 fight card
Nick Rodriguez vs. Victor Hugo Renato Canuto vs. Oliver Taza Elisabeth Clay vs. Brianna Ste-Marie Ronaldo Junior vs. Felipe Costa Andy Murasaki vs. Daniel Sathler Cassia Moura vs. Sarah Galvao Maggie Grindatti-Lira vs. Helena Crevar Achilles Rocha vs. Nathan Haddad Carlos Enrique vs. Victor Delibero
BJJ star Kade Ruotolo is now 3-0 in his young MMA career. Kade Ruotolo keeps submitting people in both jiu-jitsu and MMA.
At just 22 years old, Ruotolo already has the top accolades in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), with championsh…
BJJ star Kade Ruotolo is now 3-0 in his young MMA career.
Kade Ruotolo keeps submitting people in both jiu-jitsu and MMA.
At just 22 years old, Ruotolo already has the top accolades in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), with championships in IBJJF, ADCC and CJI. Now he’s adding to his MMA resume, as well.
Stepping into his third MMA fight, Ruotolo took on a more experienced Nicolas Vigna at ONE Championship 171 earlier today in Qatar, but just easily dominated from the opening bell.
The BJJ world champion landed a head kick early, before dropping down and quickly attempting a heel hook. Vigna didn’t tap, and Ruotolo just immediately transitioned to the back, and eventually to mount. He landed a few strikes, before locking up the fight ending arm triangle.
Just three minutes into the opening round, and Kade Ruotolo improved to 3-0 in his MMA career. Ruotolo’s combined fight time in his three MMA bouts is just seven minutes and 28 seconds.
Ruotolo previously expressed his desire to still join the biggest BJJ events, but noted after this win that he wants to return to MMA and fight again as soon as possible. CJI 2 is in August, and the ADCC World Championships is not until 2026, so Ruotolo does have time for a quick turnaround in MMA, if ONE Championship would be willing to spend and book him again.
Gordon Ryan vs. Mikey Musumeci reality show? CJI champ Kade Ruotolo may have leaked the UFC’s BJJ expansion plans. The UFC has grand plans to expand their business and “take over jiu-jits…
Photos by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Gordon Ryan vs. Mikey Musumeci reality show? CJI champ Kade Ruotolo may have leaked the UFC’s BJJ expansion plans.
The UFC has grand plans to expand their business and “take over jiu-jitsu like they have MMA,” with Mikey Musumeci being the “first of many” exclusively signed grapplers.
The promotion has been putting up stacked Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) cards, but outside these UFC Fight Pass Invitational events, not much has been officially revealed on their other expansion plans. The professional BJJ scene is still relatively small though, and word goes around quickly in those circles.
While talking about a completely different topic, ADCC and CJI champion Kade Ruotolo may have unintentionally leaked the UFC’s upcoming plans for jiu-jitsu. According to the BJJ star, the UFC’s expansion strategy could also unsurprisingly include their same old formula.
“Right now, I think (Gordon Ryan is) doing something with Mikey Musumeci. (They’re) possibly doing some sort of ‘Ultimate Fighter’ type thing for jiu-jitsu, I believe,” Ruotolo told MMA Fighting, while discussing Ryan’s PED use.
Ruotolo also implied that the two BJJ stars would just be the reality show coaches, with the often inactive Ryan unable to compete.
“(Gordon Ryan) can’t fight because of health issues. At the end of the day, he can never fight because of health issues,” Ruotolo said.
Musumeci and Ryan have repeatedly traded barbs recently, mainly stemming from their difference in philosophies surrounding performance enhancing drugs in jiu-jitsu. While the appeal of another reality show in 2025 is debatable, it would make sense that the UFC would want to use these big names and their public rivalry to promote their BJJ expansion.
The TUF format seems extremely dated at this point, but to their credit, tournaments do fit better in jiu-jitsu and it could still be interesting if they were able to actually sign the best grapplers in the world for it.
John Danaher could stop coaching pro grapplers, the stacked UFC FPI 10 fight card, and more! Get up to date on all the biggest news from the BJJ scene. Welcome to the BJJ Beat! On this rec…
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
John Danaher could stop coaching pro grapplers, the stacked UFC FPI 10 fight card, and more! Get up to date on all the biggest news from the BJJ scene.
Welcome to the BJJ Beat! On this recurring feature, we’ll tackle the biggest news from the professional grappling scene, and roll everything up in an easily digestible and familiar jiu-jitsu format.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Warm Ups
Top BJJ coach John Danaher could ‘step away from coaching’ after multiple surgeries
John Danaher, who is perhaps the most famous BJJ coach today, says he will have to seriously consider his current role. He has coached jiu-jitsu champions like Gordon Ryan, Giancarlo Bodoni, Nicholas Meregali, and Helena Crevar at New Wave, but “could step away from coaching professional athletes” altogether.
Danaher says this is due to him needing four surgeries, including hip and knee replacements. According to the New Wave coach, doctors tell him that these serious surgeries could not only sideline him from jiu-jitsu, but also signal “the end of any kind of jiu-jitsu type movement at a high level.”
“This year I will have to do four surgeries to try and get a satisfactory body back,” Danaher wrote on Instagram. “I started today with the easiest surgery – a bilateral inguinal hernia repair that I’ve been putting off too long. Then I will have to schedule the much more serious hip and knee replacements (after that I have to get lens implanted my eyes to get my deteriorating vision back in order).
“My last hip replacement took about six months to a year to fully recover from. The issue will be the more complex and generally less robust knee replacement, which in my case will be attached to a femur that already has a hip replacement on the other side of it. The doctors say that generally this is the end of any kind of Jiu jitsu type movement at high level,” he wrote.
“As such I will most likely have to make a reappraisal of my role in Jiu jitsu coaching. I hope that given enough time I can return to high level coaching but it may be that I have to switch focus to more recreational Jiu jitsu coaching. Despite the uncertainty, there is something of which I am very sure. If I do have to step away from coaching professional athletes, my students are without exception, truly outstanding teachers so I am extremely confident that they can represent what we espoused far better than I ever did and contribute greatly to the sports continued growth.”
Drills
Stacked UFC FPI 10 fight card gets three more bouts
The UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 (UFC FPI 10) line up is shaping up nicely. After staging a bit of a coup and getting one of the best matches possible in BJJ today as the headliner, the rest of the card has been filling up.
Outside of the Ffion Davies vs. Adele Fornarino main event, there are also multiple female BJJ champions on the card as well. Check out the already stacked line up for UFC FPI 10 below.
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10: Davies vs. Fornarino fight card
Ffion Davies vs. Adele Fornarino Nick Rodriguez vs. Victor Hugo Renato Canuto vs. Oliver Taza Elisabeth Clay vs. Brianna Ste-Marie Helena Crevar vs. Maggie Grindatti-Lira Cassia Moura vs. Sarah Galvao Ronaldo Junior vs. Felipe Costa Andy Murasaki vs. Daniel Sathler
Move of the Day
Sarah Galvao following footsteps of BJJ legend father
Andre Galvao’s daughter Sarah Galvao is currently a brown belt world champion, and recently showcased her skills in her professional no gi debut. Watch her nasty attacks after locking up a rear triangle, including a suloev stretch attempt and the Americana finish from WNO 26.
As noted above, Galvao will continue her pro grappling career and will be competing at UFC FPI 10 next.
Photo by Christopher Colon/Pximages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Rolls
Tye Ruotolo vs. Dante Leon title bout set
BJJ star Tye Ruotolo is set to return against two-time no gi world champion Dante Leon at ONE Fight Night 31. The grappling match happens on May 2, 2025, with Ruotolo’s ONE title on the line.
Both Leon and Ruotolo are considered among the top pound-for-pound grapplers in the world. Despite both being among the smaller grapplers in the tournament, both notably took bronze medals at the ADCC absolute division, with Ruotolo in 2022 and Leon in 2024.
Both BJJ stars are currently 1-1 against each other, with Leon winning a decision in 2020, and Ruotolo winning by guillotine in 2021.
screengrab, nagafighter
Cooldown
NAGA to give equal pay for male and female champions
The North American Grappling Association or NAGA has revamped their pay structure to give equal prize money for men and women. The long running organization known for their no gi competitions will have new payouts (HT: JitsMagazine) for the champions of their expert absolute divisions, depending on the bracket size.
They’ll give $1000 for winners of brackets with over 16 competitors, $750 for brackets of 12-15 competitors, $500 for 8-11 competitors, and $250 if there are only 4-7 competitors.
It’s obviously not huge money, but this is certainly a step in the right direction, especially considering how there are many larger BJJ events that don’t even give any prize money.
Review
To close things out, here are other interesting BJJ stories you might have missed:
CJI 2 x Quintet! – More details have been released about CJI 2, plus an easter egg in the poster.
WNO 26 and Polaris 31 produced several entertaining BJJ matches, here are the top standouts. With WNO 26 and Polaris 31 happening just hours apart, it was a pretty big week…
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
WNO 26 and Polaris 31 produced several entertaining BJJ matches, here are the top standouts.
With WNO 26 and Polaris 31 happening just hours apart, it was a pretty big weekend for Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).
Both cards were pretty stacked with talent, which included two lightweight champions retaining their respective titles. Decorated IBJJF champ Diego “Pato” Oliveira defended his WNO title against Keith Krikorian, while teenage BJJ prodigy Helena Crevar defended her Polaris title against Anabel Lopez Beard. Both champions proved to be technically superior to their challengers, but there are a few other BJJ stars that stood out more and stole the show this weekend.
Here are the biggest winners from WNO 26 and Polaris 31:
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Roberto Jimenez and his insane flying armbar
There’s a reason I put Roberto Jimenez’s bout as the top match to watch in WNO 26 in my preview. The 24-year-old has a reputation for putting on exciting matches, and boy did he deliver at WNO 26.
Not only did he get revenge at his fellow IBJJF world champion in Elder Cruz, he won the rematch in style. Jimenez was the biggest winner this weekend after that insanely quick flying armbar that absolutely stole the show.
Making the biggest impact at Polaris 31 is Mateusz Szczecinski, who beat four men and landed two submissions in one night. Polaris Squads — and team grappling as a whole — is always a fun format, and the Polaris welterweight champion in Szczecinski was the main driving force that led Team Europe to a dominant win over Team North America.
Among his four wins was this pretty nasty armbar over PJ Barch. He locked it up so quick, it’s actually easy to miss on first watch.
Also impressing this weekend was two-time gi world champion Tainan Dalpra, who remained undefeated in professional no gi competition. Dalpra followed up his recent IBJJF Euros win in the gi, with a no gi win just over a week later at WNO 26.
The AOJ star looked great once again, finishing Rene Sousa with a pretty nasty a seated arm triangle. Since Dalpra’s been proving to be really good at no gi too, hopefully he faces better competition next.
Jozef Chen eliminates 3 opponents from Team North America
Also standing out from Polaris 31 is Team Europe’s Jozef Chen, who eliminated three opponents from Team North America. The ADCC Trials winner beat Mike Perez and Chris Wojcik twice, and also came close to upsetting the much larger Devhonte Johnson on his third straight match. Chen and Szczecinski alone combined for seven victories, which led to a wide victory for Team Europe.
It’s hard to over emphasize just how good this B-Team BJJ star is at just 20 years of age.
CJI millionaire “Nicky Rod” has been booked for another bout, and will get a chance to avenge the last loss of his career at UFC FPI 10. Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) star Nick Rodriguez has ba…
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
CJI millionaire “Nicky Rod” has been booked for another bout, and will get a chance to avenge the last loss of his career at UFC FPI 10.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) star Nick Rodriguez has back-to-back matches booked.
The CJI open weight champion was just revealed to have an incredible match up with ADCC open champ Kaynan Duarte on April 18, but apparently “Nicky Rod” will also have another big match before that WNO 27 headliner.
A day after his WNO 27 announcement, it was also revealed on the UFC 312 broadcast that Rodriguez has been booked as the co-headliner for UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10 (UFC FPI 10). On March 6, 2025, Nicky Rod will rematch Victor Hugo, who is the last man who beat him.
Both men joined the inaugural CJI event, as the two favorites on opposite sides of the bracket. Most expected them to meet in the open-weight final, but Hugo was upset by Lucas Kanard in the opening round, and Rodriguez went on to win the tournament. That rematch finally goes down on UFC FPI 10.
Nick Rodriguez is currently on an incredible streak, which includes that dominant CJI performance that won him a million dollars, and a UFC FPI 8 main event win over Michael Pixley. He has just one loss in his last 15 matches, and that lone defeat came against his longterm rival in Victor Hugo.
Hugo, a five time IBJJF world champion across gi and no gi, has three wins over Nicky Rod through the years. The first two were in smaller shows in 2020 and 2021, and most recent one was in WNO 22 in 2024.
All of those losses came via close and competitive referee decisions, with Hugo’s guard causing Rodriguez’s a lot of problems in the past. Will Nicky Rod’s recent improvements be enough to finally get a win, or will UFC FPI 10 show that Hugo really has his number?
It’ll certainly be interesting to see that clash of styles play out again, but Rodriguez will now have not just one but two elite opponents in back to back months.
UFC Fight Pass Invitational 10: Davies vs. Fornarino fight card
Ffion Davies vs. Adele Fornarino Nick Rodriguez vs. Victor Hugo Renato Canuto vs. Oliver Taza Elisabeth Clay vs. Brianna Ste-Marie Helena Crevar vs. Maggie Grindatti-Lira Cassia Moura vs. Talita Alencar
For the latest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and grappling-related news click here.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25873376/2153157556.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25873377/UFC_FPI_10.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25873379/1252789517.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25873378/home_hero.jpeg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25866405/2057242432.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25866465/Screenshot_2025_02_09_at_10.04.48_AM.png)