Gordon Ryan

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.[13]

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.

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.

In 2019 Gordon Ryan competed in a superfight against Joao Gabriel Rocha at KASAI Super Series in Dallas, Texas.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

In a hybrid rules fight, Ryan submitted wrestler Bo Nickal via triangle choke.[17]

Ryan was forced to withdraw from a superfight set for July 31, 2020, after contracting COVID-19.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20] He revealed in December 2020, that the new gym had a tentative opening date of March 2021.[21]

On March 22, 2021, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong confirmed that Ryan had signed a contract with the promotion to compete in grappling, as well as mixed martial arts if he wished to.[22] He was scheduled to make his promotional debut in a grappling match against multiple–times ONE Lightweight World Champion (MMA) Shinya Aoki on August 27, 2021.[23] Ryan announced on May 21 that he was at least momentarily retiring from competitive grappling due to his long–time gastroparesis condition, as it had worsened throughout the years, and looks forward to taking care of his health.[24][25] As confirmed from sources, Gordon Ryan is no longer under One Championship contract.[26]

In July 2021, it was announced that Danaher Death Squad had split up and Ryan will be opening his own academy in Austin, Texas.[3][27]

In September 2022, Gordon competed at ADCC both in the +99 kg division and in the superfight against André Galvão. It was the first time in the history of ADCC that a competitor that was scheduled to do the superfight also fought at a weight division.[28] Gordon proceeded to clear his weight class with victories over Heikki Jussila, Victor Hugo, Roosevelt Sousa and Nick Rodriguez to win gold. He also had the fastest submission in the history of ADCC against Roosevelt Sousa, where he submitted Sousa via outside heel hook in 11 seconds. Later that weekend, Ryan faced Galvão in a highly anticipated match in grappling history and won via rear naked choke. Gordon became the first grappler in ADCC history to become champion in three different weight classes[29] and he defeated André Galvão, who had not lost a match since 2017.

On December 15, 2022, Ryan was scheduled to compete against Vinny Magalhães in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 3.[30] Magalhães withdrew from the event on short notice and was replaced by Ryan's former teammate Nick Rodriguez.[31] Ryan went on to win the match by fastest escape time in EBI overtime.[32]

In January 2023, Ryan announced that he had signed a seven-figure multi-fight contract with FloSports.[33]

The tetralogy bout between Ryan and Felipe Pena was originally scheduled on February 25, 2023, at Who's Number One.[34] Just two days before the event, Ryan withdrew as a result of stomach issues that he suffered during the week leading up to the match and he was replaced by Nick Rodriguez.[35] Ryan did not compete in the first half of 2023 and revealed on May 22 that this was because he suffered a serious case of strep throat that was resistant to penicillin and had to undergo a tonsillectomy.[36]

Ryan announced that he would return to professional grappling competition on October 1, 2023 when he would defend his Who's Number One heavyweight title against Patrick Gaudio at WNO 20: Night of Champions.[37] He won the match by submission via armbar, as predicted in his mystery box and retained his title.[38]

Ryan was scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Lucas Barbosa at Who's Number One 21: Ryan v Barbosa on November 30, 2023.[39] Ryan withdrew from the match due to a rib injury[40] and was replaced by his teammate Giancarlo Bodoni.[41]

Ryan was also scheduled to compete against Mason Fowler in the main event of UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 on December 9, 2023.[42] He withdrew from this match due to rib injury too.[40]

Ryan competed against Josh Saunders in the main event of Who's Number One 24 on June 20, 2024.[43] He won the match by submission. [44]