ADCC world champion Gordon Ryan recently spoke with the media in advance of his highly anticipated return to UFC’s streaming service. The world’s top professional grapplers will compete against one another in a submission-grappling match at the event on December 15.
Ryan discussed the impact that having BJJ on UFC streaming service would have on “the gentle art” during the event preview. He said the following:
“I think this is a big jump for the sport as a whole. First it was a crossover between wrestling and jiu-jitsu [fans]… But now you’re having the crossover between mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu. I think ADCC was the first step, having 13 000 people watching a live event.. I think the UFC partnership with grapplers is gonna catapult the sport into a new realm.”
UFC might be late on this particular train. Majority of BJJ events including ADCC were televised on flograppling for years – but the streaming service is famously wonky, has bad ethics and slim paychecks.
Once ONE FC stepped up their game and signed a number of prominent grapplers to exclusive contracts to compete submission only in the cage – with a $50,000 bonus on the line the landscape was changing whether UFC was along for the ride or not.
Ryan previously had an exclusive contract with ONE – which never amounted to anything thanks to his reluctance to transition to MMA.
This was another hot topic during the presser – because there is public appetite to see him transition to mixed martial arts regardless of the fact he’s currently unlikely to pass an USADA test.
When asked about MMA, Ryan provided the following response:
“Yeah, maybe if I want to with one of my teammates actually win an ADCC absolute and I can just kind of like give it to them but you know to be honest John (Danaher), John has never been wrong. Like our coach, John has never been wrong on much and he seems to think that I should stick with grappling.”
“So it’s hard to argue, John, that he’s always he’s always giving me like he’s always giving me advice. And like three years later, five years later, I’m like, man, John was right. So for right now, I’m gonna stick with grappling. And then maybe if like one of our guys wins absolute and starts dominating people like I do, then I’ll that I’ll make the jump.”