Gordon Ryan - BJJ Heroes

Gordon Ryan is a New Jersey (USA) born grappler and member of the well-known group – Danaher Death Squad (DDS), known particularly in jiu-jitsu‘s no-gi and submission-only circuit where he beat big names of the sport such as Alexandre Ribeiro, Romulo Barral, and Gabriel Arges. A submission-orientated competitor and one of the leading jiu-jitsu figures of his generation, Gordon cemented his name as one of the top brown belts on the planet in 2015 by winning the Newaza Challenge and No-Gi World Championship, which led to his black belt promotion under Garry Tonon – this way becoming Tonon’s first-ever student to achieve the rank, a belt responsibility shared with another one of Gordon’s mentors, John Danaher. Gordon went on to become one of the most successful no-gi grapplers of all time by winning back-to-back ADCC World Championships and other unprecedented achievements in the promotion (see below).

Gordon Ryan Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Gordon F. Ryan III

Nickname: During his time as EBI champion, Gordon Ryan was announced on stage as “The Iron Dragon”, which was less of a jiu-jitsu/Brazilian culture style nickname with a goofy backstory, and more of a marketing fight-name as seen in boxing and MMA fighters. More recently, after his undoubted success against some of the best grapplers in the world, Ryan started calling himself “The King”. The nickname had the double gratification of boosting Gordon’s credibility among mainstream fans and upsetting his critics.

Lineage 1: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Renzo Gracie > Ricardo Almeida > Tom deBlass > Garry Tonon > Gordon Ryan

Lineage 2: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Renzo Gracie > John Danaher > Gordon Ryan

Main Achievements:

• ADCC Open Weight Superfight World Title (2022* / 2024*)
• ADCC Superfight (2024)
• WNO Heavyweight Champion (2022)
• 1st Place ADCC World Tournament (2017 / 2019** / 2022)
• 1st Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2018**)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pans No-Gi Championship (2018***)
• 1st Place Quintet 3 (2018*)
• 1st Place EBI 6 (2016*)
• 1st Place EBI 8 (2016)
• 1st Place EBI 11 (2017)
• 1st Place EBI 14 (2017*)
• 1st Place Kinektic 1 (2019)
• 1st Place Grappling Industries (2017***/2016***)
• 2nd Place ADCC World Championship (2017*)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World No-Gi Championship (2015 brown)
• 1st Place Newaza Challenge (2015)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pans No-Gi Championship (2014 purple)

* Absolute ** Weight and absolute *** Double gold, all submissions

Favorite Position/Technique: Triangle/Heel-hook

Weight Division: Super-Heavy (100,50 kg / 222.0 lbs)

Team/Association: New Wave

Gordon Ryan Biography

Gordon Ryan was born on the 8th of July, 1995 in Monroe, New Jersey – United States of America.

Ryan’s introduction to jiu-jitsu was made by Miguel Benitez at the age of 15. His tuition would be taken over shortly after by the legendary Tom deBlass – one of New Jersey’s most prominent grapplers.

Months after taking his first steps in the sport, as a four-stripe white belt, Gordon met Garry Tonon. Tonon had just received his brown belt at the time but was already regarded as one of the rising talents in the sport, and deBlass’ most accomplished student to date. The two grapplers became good friends and as Garry started coaching at the Brunswick BJJ academy, Gordon joined his classes, developing his technical abilities also under Tonon’s guidance.

With Garry Tonon’s growing influence in Gordon’s grappling lifestyle, as a purple belt, Ryan started traveling to New York regularly to train with another one of Garry’s mentors – John Danaher. The Renzo Gracie Academy head coach and his methodology were also a big part of Ryan’s success, particularly in the submission-only jiu-jitsu circuit where Ryan’s potential star status was first noticed.

After a stellar 6-month brown belt run, where Ryan won important tournaments such as the Newaza Challenge and the World Championship, Gordon was awarded his black belt by Garry Tonon (February 2016) in a ceremony supported by the presence of Tom deBlass, Ricardo Almeida. and Danaher – who shared the responsibility of the new belt rank.

ADCC HISTORY

On September 2022 Gordon Ryan competed at the ADCC World Championship, where he was set to challenge the promotion’s open weight (absolute) belt in a superfight against the belt holder, André Galvão. Unhappy with just competing in one match, Gordon requested to compete also in the +99 kilogram division, an unprecedented request given the prestige and cash prize on the title on the line in the super fight. The request was granted by the ADCC top promoter, Mo Jassim and Gordon Ryan went on to make history by being the first athlete to ever win the +99 kg gold medal and the open weight super fight belt of the ADCC in the same year.

GORDON RYAN STOMACH CONDITION

According to Ryan’s social media account (Instagram), after repeated use of antibiotics for a persistent staphylococcus infection (staph) in 2018, the athlete started suffering from stomach issues, which were first diagnosed as Gastroparesis, a condition that affects the stomach muscles and prevents proper stomach emptying.

After suffering from this debilitating condition for nearly 4 years, in May 2021, Gordon officially retired from competition until further notice, explaining to his fans he could not maintain a high standard of training/performance due to his health, as reported by Bloody Elbow (here).

In a later statement, in August 2021, Gordon Ryan posted on his IG account (@gordonlovesjiujitsu) that he had finally been correctly diagnosed by a gastroenterologist (unnamed) with “yeast and bacterial overgrowth” in his stomach. A condition that had started to affect his kidneys as well. In his post’s closing arguments, Ryan added:

“Once we can rebalance the microbiome in my stomach and replenish the bacteria needed to fight the yeast infection, I should be good to go. Fingers crossed we get it in order, which we should.”

DANAHER DEATH SQUAD BREAK-UP

On July 2021, coach John Danaher announced the end of the Danaher Death Squad as a unified training and competition team, alluding to “the physical location of a future school, personality conflicts, conflicting values and an inevitable tension between the team brand and the growing individual brands of members” as the main factors for the split (original statement here).

Later in that month, Gordon Ryan and John Danaher announced the name of their new team: New Wave Jiu-Jitsu. Although the squad lost a few key players at the time, such as Gordon’s brother, Nicky Ryan, Craig Jones, Ethan Crelinsten, and Nicky Rodriguez (all of which went on to form the “B-Team” workgroup), New Wave kept Garry Tonon and Oliver Taza from the remaining Danaher Death Squad.

Cover photo by Nathalia Santoro.

Gordon Ryan Grappling Record

102 WINS

• BY POINTS 6 (6%)
• BY ADVANTAGES 2 (2%)
• BY SUBMISSION 82 (80%)
• BY DECISION 4 (4%)
• BY PENALTIES 1 (1%)
• BY EBI/OT 6 (6%)

82 SUBMISSIONS WINS

#214eb8 RNC 32 26 #86e620 Inside heel hook 12 10 #5AD3D1 Reverse triangle 9 7 #d1212a Outside heel hook 7 6 #fad11b Armbar 6 5 #f58822 Choke 5 4 #224aba Triangle 4 3 #ff9124 Kneebar 4 3 #bf1f6c Kimura 4 3 #22c9a5 Armlock 2 2 #fad223 Verbal tap 2 2 #03861f Arm in guillotine 2 2 #039a1f Short choke 2 2 #03b41f Katagatame 2 2 #03c61f Tarikoplata 1 1 #03d61f Pressure 1 1 #03f61f Triangle armbar 1 1 #82ff5f Mounted guillotine 1 1 #a4ff5f Heel hook 1 1 82 (100%) SUBMISSIONS 5 LOSSES

• BY POINTS 4 (80%)
• BY ADVANTAGES 0 (0%)
• BY SUBMISSION 1 (20%)
• BY DECISION 0 (0%)
• BY PENALTIES 0 (0%)
• BY DQ 0 (0%)

1 SUBMISSION LOSSES

#214eb8 RNC 100 1 1 (100%) SUBMISSION

Gordon Ryan Fight History

ID	Opponent	W/L	Method	Competition	Weight	Stage	Year
8858	Tex JohnsonTex Johnson	L	Points	Grappling Ind.	ABS	F	2016
11346	Felipe PenaFelipe Pena	L	RNC	Studio 540 SPF	ABS	SPF	2016
12579	Leandro LoLeandro Lo	L	Pts: 4x0	ADCC WC Trials	ABS	SPF	2017
13950	Felipe PenaFelipe Pena	L	Pts: 6x0	ADCC	ABS	F	2017
16360	Vinny MagalhaesVinny Magalhaes	L	Points	ACBJJ 13	O95KG	SPF	2018
9124	Ian Murray	W	Inside heel hook	Sapateiro Inv.	ABS	R1	2016
9128	Elliott Hill	W	Armlock	Sapateiro Inv.	ABS	4F	2016
9130	PJ BarchPJ Barch	W	Kneebar	Sapateiro Inv.	ABS	SF	2016
9131	Enrico CoccoEnrico Cocco	W	Inside heel hook	Sapateiro Inv.	ABS	F	2016
9452	Pat Sabatini	W	Inside heel hook	Goodfight Pro	77KG	SF	2016
9453	Kevin Berbrich	W	Choke	Goodfight Pro	77KG	F	2016
9454	Joshua Bacallao	W	Inside heel hook	PTL Sunday Open	ABS	SF	2016
9456	Nathan Orchard	W	Reverse triangle	PTL Sunday Open	ABS	SPF	2016
9487	James Partridge	W	Inside heel hook	Onnit Inv. 2	ABS	SPF	2016
9676	Jacen Flynn	W	RNC	EBI 6	ABS	R1	2016
9683	Marcello Salazar	W	Kneebar	EBI 6	ABS	4F	2016
9686	Yuri SimoesYuri Simoes	W	EBI/OT	EBI 6	ABS	SF	2016
9688	Rustam Chsiev	W	EBI/OT	EBI 6	ABS	F	2016
10360	Keenan CorneliusKeenan Cornelius	W	Inside heel hook	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SPF	2016
10494	Matt Arroyo	W	Inside heel hook	EBI 8	84KG	R1	2016
10502	Mike Hillebrand	W	RNC	EBI 8	84KG	4F	2016
10506	Josh Hayden	W	EBI/OT	EBI 8	84KG	SF	2016
10508	Kyle Griffin	W	Inside heel hook	EBI 8	84KG	F	2016
10768	Todd Mueckemheim	W	Kimura	Sapateiro Inv.	ABS	SPF	2016
10769	Vagner RochaVagner Rocha	D	---	Sapateiro 2	ABS	SPF	2016
11480	Bryan Brown	W	RNC	Sapateiro 6	ABS	R1	2017
11487	Antonio CarlosAntonio Carlos	W	Reverse triangle	Sapateiro 6	ABS	4F	2017
11491	Jesseray Childrey	W	RNC	Sapateiro 6	ABS	SF	2017
11493	Matthew Tesla	W	Reverse triangle	Sapateiro 6	ABS	F	2017
11681	Joe Baize	W	Reverse triangle	SUG 3	ABS	SPF	2017
12011	JP Lebosnoyani	W	RNC	EBI 11	77KG	R1	2017
12019	C. MacKarski	W	Arm in guillotine	EBI 11	77KG	4F	2017
12024	Marcel GoncalvesMarcel Goncalves	W	Short choke	EBI 11	77KG	SF	2017
12025	Vagner RochaVagner Rocha	W	RNC	EBI 11	77KG	F	2017
12382	Lucas BarbosaLucas Barbosa	W	Referee Decision	F2W 30	92KG	SPF	2017
12928	Eliot KellyEliot Kelly	W	Triangle armbar	F2W 34	ABS	SPF	2017
13657	M. Jokmanovic	W	Kimura	Grappling Ind.	ABS	4F	2017
13658	Tex JohnsonTex Johnson	W	Reverse triangle	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SF	2017
13659	D. Johnson	W	RNC	Grappling Ind.	ABS	F	2017
13894	Dillon DanisDillon Danis	W	Referee Decision	ADCC	88KG	E1	2017
13898	Romulo BarralRomulo Barral	W	RNC	ADCC	88KG	4F	2017
13900	Alexandre RibeiroAlexandre Ribeiro	W	Referee Decision	ADCC	88KG	SF	2017
13902	Keenan CorneliusKeenan Cornelius	W	Mounted guillotine	ADCC	88KG	F	2017
13942	Roberto AbreuRoberto Abreu	W	Inside heel hook	ADCC	ABS	E1	2017
13946	Craig JonesCraig Jones	W	Katagatame	ADCC	ABS	4F	2017
13947	Mahamed AlyMahamed Aly	W	Heel hook	ADCC	ABS	SF	2017
14514	Ralek Gracie	W	Reverse triangle	Metamoris	ABS	SPF	2017
14550	D. Borovic	W	Outside heel hook	EBI 14	ABS	R1	2017
14558	P. Donabedian	W	Armbar	EBI 14	ABS	4F	2017
14562	C. Hellenberg	W	EBI/OT	EBI 14	ABS	SF	2017
14564	Craig JonesCraig Jones	W	EBI/OT	EBI 14	ABS	F	2017
14585	Yuri SimoesYuri Simoes	W	RNC	Kasai Pro	ABS	SPF	2017
17417	Max GimenisMax Gimenis	W	RNC	No Gi Pan Am.	ABS	SF	2018
17419	Kaynan DuarteKaynan Duarte	W	RNC	No Gi Pan Am.	ABS	F	2018
17470	Charles McGuire	W	Tarikoplata	No Gi Pan Am.	O97KG	SF	2018
17472	Max GimenisMax Gimenis	W	RNC	No Gi Pan Am.	O97KG	F	2018
17745	Josh Barnett	W	Triangle	Quintet 3	ABS	SF	2018
17746	Marcos SouzaMarcos Souza	W	RNC	Quintet 3	ABS	SF	2018
17747	Roberto SatoshiRoberto Satoshi	D	---	Quintet 3	ABS	SF	2018
17759	Craig JonesCraig Jones	W	Short choke	Quintet 3	ABS	F	2018
17760	Vitor ShaolinVitor Shaolin	W	Armbar	Quintet 3	ABS	F	2018
17761	Gregor GracieGregor Gracie	D	---	Quintet 3	ABS	F	2018
18713	Evangelous Moumtzis	W	Armbar	NoGi Worlds	O97KG	R1	2018
18722	Yuri SimoesYuri Simoes	W	Pts: 11x0	NoGi Worlds	O97KG	SF	2018
18723	Roberto AbreuRoberto Abreu	W	DQ	NoGi Worlds	O97KG	F	2018
18732	Kalil Fadlallah	W	Choke	NoGi Worlds	ABS	R1	2018
18738	Vegard Randeberg	W	RNC	NoGi Worlds	ABS	R2	2018
18743	Patrick GaudioPatrick Gaudio	W	Pts: 4x4, Adv	NoGi Worlds	ABS	4F	2018
18746	Jackson SousaJackson Sousa	W	RNC	NoGi Worlds	ABS	SF	2018
18747	Yuri SimoesYuri Simoes	W	Pts: 0x0, Adv	NoGi Worlds	ABS	F	2018
19048	Joao RochaJoao Rocha	W	Pts: 1x0	Kasai Dallas	120KG	SPF	2019
21403	Gabriel Checco	W	Kimura	Kinektic 1	ABS	R3	2019
21404	Rafael Domingos	W	RNC	Kinektic 1	ABS	R4	2019
21405	G. Vasconcelos	W	Arm in guillotine	Kinektic 1	ABS	R5	2019
21868	Ben Hodgkinson	W	RNC	ADCC	99KG	R1	2019
21876	Tim SpriggsTim Spriggs	W	RNC	ADCC	99KG	4F	2019
21928	Lucas BarbosaLucas Barbosa	W	Pts: 3x0	ADCC	99KG	SF	2019
21930	Vinicius TratorVinicius Trator	W	Choke	ADCC	99KG	F	2019
21946	Pedro MarinhoPedro Marinho	W	Outside heel hook	ADCC	ABS	R1	2019
21953	Garry TononGarry Tonon	W	Choke	ADCC	ABS	4F	2019
21956	Lachlan GilesLachlan Giles	W	RNC	ADCC	ABS	SF	2019
21958	Marcus AlmeidaMarcus Almeida	W	Pts: 0x0, Pen	ADCC	ABS	F	2019
22004	Rousimar PalharesRousimar Palhares	W	Referee Decision	World Festival	ABS	SPF	2019
22862	Bo Nickal	W	Triangle	Third Coast III	94KG	SPF	2019
22871	Aleksei Oleinik	W	Kneebar	Quintet Ultra	ABS	SPF	2019
22987	Gabriel GonzagaGabriel Gonzaga	W	Outside heel hook	SUG 10	ABS	SPF	2019
23521	Tex JohnsonTex Johnson	W	Katagatame	Sub Stars	N/A	SPF	2020
23593	Pat Downey	W	Verbal tap	BJJ Fanatics GP	ABS	SPF	2020
23813	David Newton	W	RNC	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SPF	2020
23814	Abraham Hall	W	Triangle	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SPF	2020
23815	Benjamin Dixon	W	RNC	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SPF	2020
23816	Chad Allen	W	RNC	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SPF	2020
23817	Austin Tracy	W	RNC	Grappling Ind.	ABS	SPF	2020
23822	Kyle BoehmKyle Boehm	W	Armlock	WNO	ABS	SPF	2020
24152	Matheus DinizMatheus Diniz	W	Inside heel hook	WNO 4	ABS	SPF	2020
25249	Roberto JimenezRoberto Jimenez	W	Armbar	WNO 6	ABS	SPF	2021
25472	Vagner RochaVagner Rocha	W	Reverse triangle	WNO 7	93KG	SPF	2021
31390	Jacob CouchJacob Couch	W	Pressure	WNO 12	O92KG	SPF	2022
33763	Pedro MarinhoPedro Marinho	W	RNC	WNO 13	O93KG	SPF	2022
34341	Felipe PenaFelipe Pena	W	Verbal tap	WNO 14	ABS	SPF	2022
35189	Heikki Jussila	W	RNC	ADCC	O99KG	R1	2022
35197	Victor HugoVictor Hugo	W	Pts: 8x0	ADCC	O99KG	4F	2022
35201	Roosevelt SousaRoosevelt Sousa	W	Outside heel hook	ADCC	O99KG	SF	2022
35203	Nick RodriguezNick Rodriguez	W	Outside heel hook	ADCC	O99KG	F	2022
35234	Andre GalvaoAndre Galvao	W	RNC	ADCC	ABS	SPF	2022
37117	Nick RodriguezNick Rodriguez	W	EBI/OT	UFC FP Inv.	ABS	SPF	2022
43513	Patrick GaudioPatrick Gaudio	W	Armbar	WNO 20	ABS	SPF	2023
51102	Josh Sanders	W	Outside heel hook	WNO 24	O94KG	SPF	2024
52720	Felipe PenaFelipe Pena	W	Pts: 2x0	ADCC	ABS	SPF	2024
52721	Yuri SimoesYuri Simoes	W	Pts: 21x0	ADCC	ABS	SPF	2024