Who Is Gordon Ryan? The King of No-Gi Grappling
ADCC gold in three different divisions, the Danaher systems, New Wave, and the crown nobody has taken — how Gordon Ryan became no-gi grappling's King.
Every era of jiu jitsu produces one competitor the whole sport has to answer. Roger Gracie in the gi. Marcelo Garcia pound for pound. And in no-gi grappling's modern era, the answer — often loudly, always confidently — is Gordon Ryan, the American they call "The King."
Love him or argue with him (he's happy either way), the record doesn't blink: Gordon Ryan is the most dominant no-gi grappler who has ever lived — and he did it as an outsider who mastered a Brazilian art and then bent its biggest stage to his will.
Who Is Gordon Ryan?
Gordon Ryan is an American submission grappler from New Jersey, born in 1995, and the defining no-gi competitor of his generation. Under coach John Danaher, he became the face of the ADCC World Championships — grappling's most prestigious event — winning gold in three different divisions (88 kg in 2017, 99 kg in 2019, and +99 kg in 2022), plus the 2022 superfight against André Galvão and a superfight victory again in 2024. He leads New Wave Jiu Jitsu in Austin, Texas alongside Danaher, sells some of the most-studied instructionals in the sport, and carries a nickname that long ago stopped being a boast: The King.
The Rise: From New Jersey Mats to the Blue Basement
Gordon's story starts far from Brazil — on New Jersey mats, coming up under Tom DeBlass and Garry Tonon before finding the coach who would change everything: John Danaher, the cerebral New Zealander teaching out of the famous "blue basement" of the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York City.
Inside Danaher's crew — the Danaher Death Squad (DDS), alongside Tonon, Eddie Cummings, and later Craig Jones and Nick Rodriguez — Gordon became the perfect expression of a radical idea: that grappling could be broken down into systems. Not moves, but decision trees; not highlights, but inevitabilities. While the gi world debated tradition, the basement was quietly building the most feared submission machine in the sport.
Gordon's early fame came through the EBI (Eddie Bravo Invitational) overtime era, where he racked up titles and submissions in a format built for finishers. By the time he arrived at ADCC 2017 as a brash 22-year-old, the sport was about to meet its next king.
The ADCC Record: Three Divisions, No Peers
ADCC is where no-gi legends are measured, and Gordon rewrote its record book:
- ADCC 2017 — gold at 88 kg
- ADCC 2019 — gold at 99 kg, moving up a division
- ADCC 2022 — gold at +99 kg, and on the same weekend, victory in the superfight against André Galvão, the event's long-reigning superfight champion
- ADCC 2024 — retained his crown with another superfight win
Three golds in three different weight classes — no other competitor in ADCC history has done it. He didn't just win divisions; he outgrew them and won the next one up. At an event where Marcelo Garcia, Roger Gracie, and Buchecha built their legends, Gordon planted a flag that says the no-gi era belongs to him.
The Style: Systems, Not Moves
Gordon's game is the Danaher philosophy made flesh:
- The leg-lock revolution. DDS weaponized the heel hook at a time when much of the sport treated leg attacks as heresy. Gordon's lower-body game forced every elite grappler on earth to learn leg-lock defense — or retire from trying.
- The back as home. For all the leg-lock fame, Gordon finishes most often from the back — slow, suffocating, inevitable control into the choke.
- Positional patience. No scrambling chaos. Gordon advances like a chess engine: pass, pin, elevate, strangle. Opponents describe the experience less as losing and more as drowning on a schedule.
- Total preparation. Every opponent systemically studied, every path to the finish rehearsed until the match feels, in his words, like something he's already done.
New Wave, Rivalries, and the Business of Being King
When the Danaher Death Squad split in 2021, Gordon and Danaher relocated to Austin, Texas and founded New Wave Jiu Jitsu — while former teammates Craig Jones and Nick Rodriguez launched the rival B-Team across town, giving the sport its juiciest ongoing feud. Add Felipe Pena — the Brazilian standout who owns rare wins over Gordon and pushed him through one of grappling's great rivalries — and every Gordon Ryan match arrives with a story attached.
Through it all, Gordon has fought a quieter opponent: recurring, severe stomach illness that has repeatedly pulled him off the mats and, by his own account, nearly ended his career more than once. The dominance has come in spite of it.
And the persona — the trash talk, the callouts, the King's-court social media — is its own engine. It fills arenas, sells the most-studied instructionals in grappling, and drags casual fans into a niche sport. Behind it sits one of the most disciplined training lives in jiu jitsu. The mouth markets; the systems win.
An American King of a Brazilian Art
Here's the beautiful irony: the most dominant no-gi grappler ever is American — in an art born in Brazil, built on Japanese roots, and still coached, cornered, and argued about in Brazilian Portuguese. The sport Gordon rules speaks Portuguese in its bones: the positions, the mat culture, the words every serious grappler ends up using whether they notice or not.
Portuguese Vocabulary for the No-Gi Mats
| Portuguese | English | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Finalização | Submission | What The King hunts every match |
| Costas | Back | Gordon's favorite place to finish |
| Perna | Leg | The revolution DDS forced on the sport |
| Joelho | Knee | Where the heel-hook game lives |
| Pegada | Grip | Control comes before the kill |
| Vitória | Victory | The only outcome Gordon plans for |
Every word above — with native-speaker audio and phonetic spelling — is taught in the Fala BJJ app, along with hundreds more words from the Brazilian mats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Gordon Ryan?
Gordon Ryan is an American submission grappler, widely regarded as the greatest no-gi competitor in history. Coached by John Danaher, he has won ADCC gold in three different divisions plus the ADCC superfight, and leads New Wave Jiu Jitsu in Austin, Texas.
How many ADCC titles does Gordon Ryan have?
Gordon won ADCC division gold in 2017 (88 kg), 2019 (99 kg), and 2022 (+99 kg) — the only grappler to win three different divisions — plus superfight victories in 2022 (over André Galvão) and 2024.
Who is Gordon Ryan's coach?
John Danaher, the famed coach behind the Danaher Death Squad and now New Wave Jiu Jitsu. Gordon came up earlier under Tom DeBlass and Garry Tonon in New Jersey.
Why is Gordon Ryan called "The King"?
The nickname reflects his dominance of no-gi grappling's biggest stages — and Gordon's own unapologetic embrace of the crown. His record at ADCC has largely settled the argument.
Does Gordon Ryan compete in the gi?
Gordon competed in the gi earlier in his career, but his black belt legacy is overwhelmingly no-gi — ADCC, EBI, and WNO — where the leg-lock and back-attack systems he's known for shine brightest.
Has Gordon Ryan ever lost?
Rarely at the elite level — Felipe Pena is the most notable name with wins over him. In the modern no-gi era, beating Gordon Ryan remains the hardest single accomplishment in grappling.
Why Gordon Ryan Matters
Every art needs a figure who forces it forward. Gordon Ryan made leg locks mandatory, made systems thinking the standard, made no-gi grappling must-watch — and proved the art's language crosses every border on earth. The King is American; the kingdom still speaks Portuguese.
Want to understand the words being shouted from his corner — and every corner in jiu jitsu? That's what Fala BJJ teaches: the Portuguese of the mats, one word at a time.
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