Wagnney Fabiano victorious at WEC 49

A Grant Brothers BJJ coach and trainer is making big waves in mixed martial arts today as a fighter.

When he’s not mentoring young fighters – or Georges St-Pierre – Brazil’s Wagnney Fabiano continues to rocket up the bantamweight ranks in World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), the promotion owned by the  UFC.

On June 20 at WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus, Fabiano improved to 4-1 in the WEC and 2-0 since moving to bantamweight. He dominated Frank Gomez in a unanimous decision victory; all three judges scored the bout 30-27.

The decision was a rarity for Fabiano. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) 3rd degree black belt, who fought for the Renzo Gracie Academy and has trained with Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, gets most of his wins by finishing opponents. Now 14-2, Fabiano has won seven bouts by submission and two via knockout. From February 2007 to December 2008, Fabiano finished seven straight opponents: two via armbar, three via arm-triangle choke, one via guillotine choke and one via knockout.

The knockout victory, which came against Shad Lierley in Fabiano’s successful IFL Featherweight title defense, showed the world that Fabiano had proficient striking to back up his outstanding ground grappling skills. He made his WEC debut on December 3, 2008 and didn’t disappoint, defeating Akitoshi Tamura by arm –triangle choke in the third round with just 12 seconds remaining in the bout.

Fabiano followed up that victory with a decision over Fredson Paixao before losing a shocker to Mackens Semerzier, losing by triangle choke. To get a perspective of how quickly Fabiano’s star was rising, Sherdog.com dubbed his loss MMA’s biggest upset of 2009.

Fabiano moved to bantamweight after that defeat and hasn’t looked back. His goal is to add another title to his Nova Uniao team alongside WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Once Aldo moved up to featherweight, Fabiano dropped to bantamweight to ensure the two teammates wouldn’t fight each other.

Given that Fabiano’s latest victim, Frank Gomez, was an accomplished fighter out of Greg Jackson’s camp, it should be only a matter of time before the Grant Brothers’ Brazilian gets a title shot at bantamweight.

About Grant Brothers Boxing & BJJ GYM: Located in the heart of North York, Grant Brothers Boxing & BJJ Gym offers world-class BJJ, Boxing, Judo, Muay Thai, Sambo, Wrestling and MMA training at real-world prices.  Classes are taught by certified coaches with classes for men, women, children, adults, beginners and advanced.  Private lessons and boxercise classes are also available.

Areas serviced include North York, Etobicoke, Toronto, Scarborough, Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Markham, Vaughan, Brampton and Mississauga.

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