Preview Victor Hugo Vs. Nick Rodriguez at Fight to Win 135

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This weekends Fight to Win 135 Sacramento, CA, sees heavyweights Victor Hugo fresh off of his IBJJF No-Gi Worlds absolute title victory over rival Cyborg, versus Nick Rodriguez, the 2019 ADCC +99 kg silver medalist.

The matchup is interesting for a number of reasons notably that these two athletes share a recent common opponent. Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu. Both grapplers have victories in their most recent matchups against Cyborg through very different strategies. Below we take a look at how both were able to come out ahead over the perennial champion and top contender, and possibly what this means regarding their strategies in this weekends Fight to Win 135 Main Event matchup.

Strategies for Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo found high level success most recently against Cyborg in a quick kneebar victory over the former ADCC champion in the finals of the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Absolute division. After failing to beat the veteran in their first two meetings once at the IBJJF Heavweight GP earlier in the 2019 year, and again in the weight class of the 2019 IBJJF No-Gi worlds. Hugo changed his strategy drastically and quickly attacked a kneebar ending the absolute finals bout in 52 seconds. Given Nick Rodriguez typical game-plan of heavy collar ties pressure wrestling and snap downs we think Hugo will pull early and work this leglock strategy again. Hugo has shown dynamic entries from the bottom and Nick Rodriguez in his most rematch with Kaynan Duarte also at Fight to Win was caught in a heel hook as Duarte entered from the bottom, electing to pull in the Fight to Win sub only format, and not wrestle with Rodriguez as he had been forced to do in ADCC a few weeks prior. In this matchup there is no incentive for Hugo to attempt to wrestle Rodriguez who has shown he is incredibly hard to take down and settle into position, especially with no points incentive for the takedown. Look for Hugo to pull, and either attack from the guard or enter into the legs.

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Strategies for Nick Rodriguez

Nick has shown that he is extremely difficult to take down at the weight class. In his match with Cyborg at ADCC 2019 in the quarter finals of the +99 kg division we saw Nick initiating the positions, active work on top of the guard, and an ability to prevent the sweep and top position work of Cyborg during the match. Their match saw Nick take a ref decision over Cyborg, using his pace, scramble, and ability to dictate the range at which Cyborgs guard was implemented. Although Nick did have to fight off an armbar from Cyborg during the match, leading us to believe that Rodriguez will only engage with Hugo’s Guard on favorable terms. Look for Nick to implement the cartwheel passing, teleport passing, and possible double under passing against Hugo as he looks for the back, most likely Nick will try for the Rear Naked Choke if he is able to secure the back of Hugo. Expect Nick stand to attack the seated guard of Hugo with a bent over stance keeping his legs outside of the range of Hugo’s legs as we have seen from Nick in the past.

X Factors of the Matchup

Rodriguez has recently made the full time move to Renzo Gracie Academy (RGA) under John Danaher his manager Jay Regalbuto also his coach for his ADCC 2019 run spoke about the move with the Grappling Rewind on episode 113 of the Grappling Rewind Podcast. You can watch the 30 minute interview here or listen to the Grappling Rewind Podcast at the podcast links at the article footer. It is unknown how this move will affect Nicks game, and how much of the DDS leg lock system Nick has been able to implement since the move. Given Hugo’s most likely pathway to victory in this matchup, Nicks full time move to RGA, may play a deciding factor in his comfort and utility in these leg positions. You can listen to our preview of this card on episode 114 of the Grappling Rewind Podcast in the previews section of the show.

Written By : Maine Miller

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Maine Miller