Arguably the best pure no-gi grappler of all time has been forced to quit competitive BJJ events until his stomach improves. In the early hours of the morning, Gordon Ryan posted 2 long instagram posts which detail the events surrounding his sudden departure from the sport.
Whilst this news is somewhat shocking, anyone who follows Ryan will already know his struggles with gastroparesis. Therefore it won’t come as too much of a surprise to some that this issue has worsened, leaving him unable to train for competition.
Ryan was meant to fight Luis Pandza at WNO on May 28th and had more recently announced signing to ONE MMA where he was to face off in a grappling match against Shinya Aoki on August 27th. Of course, there is no doubt these matches will no longer go ahead, but there is still the possibility of Gordon Ryan making a full recovery after months or perhaps years.
Ryan used his Instagram to post a series of apologies to ONE championship, John Danaher, Roberto Abreu and various other BJJ athletes.
He continues that for the present time, he will still be coaching (most likely alongside Danaher) as well as producing instructional DVDs – which have certainly made him a lot of money so far.
All in all, it seems quite an uncertain future for Gordon Ryan. On the bright side, he is still a young grappler at 25 years old and whilst stomach issues are complicated, people do find cures, or at least a treatement which keeps them active.
We would like to wish Gordon Ryan and his family the best during this difficult period of uncertainty.
