During a recent spat between Gordon Ryan and Robert Drysdale, ADCC organizer Mo Jassim made a staggering accusation about Drysdale during his 2007 ADCC gold medal. Here, Drysdale submitted Andre Galvao to reach the final, a match which Jassim claims was fixed.
The result saw Drysdale face off against Marcelo Garcia in the final of the Absolutes, this is where Drysdale submitted Garcia with a darce, making him the first ever American to get gold at both Worlds and ADCC which is a staggering achievement.
However, Jassim recalls it differently, and on Instagram he said “Drysdale participated in a fixed match and screwed MG out of history. That is 100% fact so Drysdale is literally the last person in BJJ I am ever going to listen to about respect and humility.” amongst other things. In fairness, Jassim is known to be close friends with Gordon Ryan and the pair also live on the same island of Puerto Rico.
This claim is also backed up by Andre Galvao, who has said in the past that he let Drysdale win as he was a teammate at the time. Could this be Galvao saving face, or does his claim match up with that by Jassim?
Whatever happened, only Robert Drysdale and Andre Galvao will truly know the truth, and perhaps this truth will always be shrouded in mystery due to allegations. What can be said though, is that Drysdale’s win against Marcelo Garcia was a phenomenal achievement. As Jassim has said, at the time Marcelo Garcia was on fire so for Drysdale to not only beat him, but to do it by submission proves that he was at the top of his game in 2007, which he would argue is how he also beat Andre Galvao.
