Gordon Ryan (born July 8, 1995) is an American submission grappler and first-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, considered by many to be the greatest no–gi grappler of all time due to his accomplishments and dominance. Ryan is a five–time ADCC World champion, two-time IBJJF No-Gi World champion and a four-time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion.
Early life
Gordon F Ryan III was born on July 8, 1995, in Monroe, New Jersey, U.S. He began grappling at the age of 15 under Miguel Benitez before switching to train under John Danaher, Tom DeBlass and Garry Tonon. He began competing and won the IBJJF World No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship as a brown belt.
Career
2016
After a 6-month brown belt run, where Ryan won notable tournaments such as the Newaza Challenge and the World Championship, Ryan was awarded his black belt by Garry Tonon in February 2016 in a ceremony supported by the presence of Tom deBlass, Ricardo Almeida and John Danaher – who shared the responsibility of the new belt rank.
On April 24, 2016, Ryan won the Eddie Bravo Invitational Championship, defeating world champion Yuri Simões and noted grappler Rustam Chsiev on the way. Ryan next faced top USA grappler Keenan Cornelius in a no time limit, submission only match where Ryan was able to upset Cornelius and submit him with a heel hook.
2017
In September 2017 Ryan competed at the ADCC World Championship. He took gold in the -88 kg weight category, defeating Dillon Danis, Romulo Barral, Xande Ribeiro and Keenan Cornelius. He also took 2nd place in the absolute division, submitting all his opponents on his way to losing to Felipe Pena in the final.
He would go on to win another EBI title and defeat Yuri Simões in a superfight at Kasai Pro to wrap up 2017.
2018
In September 2018, Ryan competed at the IBJJF Pan No-gi, winning both his weight class and the absolute division all by submission. Ryan led Team Alpha Male's victory in Quintet's 2018 Tournament, Quintet 3. Ryan's submission victories against Josh Barnett and Marcos Souza saw Team Alpha Male advance to the Finals. His submission victories against Craig Jones and Vítor Ribeiro earned his team's ultimate victory in the tournament. He also competed at the IBJJF Nogi Worlds in California, again taking gold in both his weight class and the absolute division.
2019
In 2019 Gordon Ryan competed in a superfight against Joao Gabriel Rocha at KASAI Super Series in Dallas, Texas. Gordon ultimately won the match, but during an exchange there was an entanglement where Gordon was attempting an entry for a heel hook and his knee popped multiple times and tore his LCL. This injury was expected to keep him out of competition for about 6 months.
In September 2019 it was reported that Gordon injured his hand
in a freak accident with one of his motorized bikes. The tire became flat and he decided to carry the bike on his shoulders. When he went to hoist the bike on his shoulders the throttle stuck and sucked his hand in between the tire and fender leaving him competing at ADCC with one hand heavily bandaged and injured. Despite the injury he went on to win the -99 kg division. He beat Ben Hodgkinson, Tim Spriggs, Lucas Barbosa and Vinicius Ferreira. He would then move on the absolute division where he would claim gold following victories over Pedro Marinho, Garry Tonon, Lachlan Giles and Marcus Buchecha Almeida.
In a hybrid rules fight, Ryan submitted wrestler Bo Nickal via triangle choke.
2020
Ryan was forced to withdraw from a superfight set for July 31, 2020, after contracting COVID-19. On October 2, 2020, Ryan faced fellow ADCC 2019 World Champion Matheus Diniz and defeated him via Heelhook approximately halfway through a thirty-minute submission-only match.
Ryan decided late in 2020 that he would leave the New Jersey area and move to Puerto Rico with his coach, John Danaher, and several members of his team to open up their own gym. He revealed in December 2020, that the new gym had a tentative opening date of March 2021.