BJJ vs. Wrestling: Vitor Oliveira vs. Chris Phillips headlines WNFS 44

Warrior Nation Fight Series 44 marks the promotion’s first foray into Ohio’s capital city, as “Columbus Invasion” features 15 amateur bouts. The event goes down on April 15 at the Courtyard by Marriott Columbus West.

The main event features fighters with just one bout apiece, but both fighters have years of combat sports experience behind them. Jiu-jitsu black belt Vitor Oliveira (1-0) will take on Chris Phillips (1-0) in a highly anticipated bout.

Olveira is one of the most respected BJJ players in the world, as he’s a representative of the GFTeam and head jiu-jitsu instructor at Ronin Training Center. He won the 2016 IBJJF World Masters Championship and is a former IBJJF American National Champion. In his lone MMA bout, he submitted Joshua Blankenship in just 64 seconds at an event in 2012.

Phillips is a four-time wrestling state champion in Ohio and posted a 193-1 record during that time. The 24-year-old made his MMA debut last year, needing just 35 seconds to earn a TKO over Brandon Ballinger at WNFS 38.

The evening’s co-main event features a pair of experienced light heavyweights, as Lance Phillips (7-1) will take on Apineru Vele (6-3).

Phillips won his first seven bouts via stoppage, but he came up short in his last outing against Aleksa Camur at RFO: Big Guns 19 last June. He’ll look to rebound from that loss when he takes on Vele.

Vele has won his last two bouts after also suffering a loss to Camur. In his most recent outing, he picked up a win over Jeremy Roberts at Colosseum Combat XXXVIII in February.

Check out the full lineup for WNFS 44 below.

Warrior Nation Fight Series 44 card

Amateur Bouts:
Chris Phillips vs Vitor Oliveria
Apineru Vele vs Lance Phillips
Brandon Eldridge vs Jake Miller
Ravon Baxter vs James Taylor
Kyle Cheatham vs Donny Korbel
Mike Walters vs Avery Arellano
DaVaughn Ellis vs Eric Wolfe
Anthony Kocheran vs Skyler Bray
Anthony Kirksey vs Matthew Tyler Price
Andre White vs Huss Trowery
Ron Brown vs Scott Bond
Sammy Karim vs Zechariah Colvin
Michael Freeman vs Deshawn Morton
Anthony Vanhoose vs Alex Ross
Bryce Frazier vs Jesse Blankenship