The testy 22 year old has been making quite a splash since his surprise win at EBI Absolute. But finally he has the grappling pinnacle – the ADCC to back it up. Love him or hate him he pulled off some very interesting performances. Here’s how he reflected on them:

  Matches as they happened. I won a decision over dillon, subbed romulo, decision over xande, subbed Keenan for the finals of 88kg. In the open weight I subbed cyborg, subbed craig Jones, subbed mo aly, lost to Pena in the finals by a back take with around 2 minutes left. I’m overall very happy and thankful for the results that have taken place. At 22 years old and my 1st ADCC ever I have no complaints. I had 8 matches with 5 submissions. I did exactly what I said I was going to do. I came in and dominated the most stacked division in adcc history. And took second in the absolute which is icing on the cake. I proved that i am the absolute best submission grappler on earth at 194 lbs. And overall the number 3 submission grappler on earth behind Pena and Andre (current super fight champion). If there’s a lesson to be learned. It is that no matter how good you are. No matter what you achieve. Never believe your own hype. Show up to training every single fucking day like you ain’t shit. Even after everything I did. I didn’t take double gold. And the matches I won were not all by submission. Remember these words. And you too can accomplish what I have. And possible far more.. I’m sorry if I forgot anyone and I’m sorry I can’t thank everyone individually. There’s so many people. Just. Thank you guys for the support. I’m overwhelmed with emotion from literally the world wide support this weekend. I love you all <3

Of course Ryan also took the opportunity to thank friends, sponsors and supporters:

Ahhh. So much to say. So many reflections.. 1st let me say thank you to all the fans who have supported me through thick and thin. You ALL are amazing and I love and appreciate every single one of you. Thank you to my family for traveling half way around the world just to watch me and my team compete. Thank you my team, my friends. My brothers and sisters for helping me this whole camp and at renzos and Brunswick/ocbjj. Thank you to adcc for running such a well organized professional event. And thank you to my sponsors @musclepharm @phalanx_usa @studio540 @kimerakoffeee @thearmbarsoapcompany and @ouchmedical. You guys are amazing. Now onto the competition.

A post shared by Gordon “King” Ryan (@gordonlovesjiujitsu) on Sep 24, 2017 at 12:37pm PDT

His sensei John Danaher reflected similarly:

 Golden boy: Gordon Ryan had the weekend of his life at ADCC world championships- the grappling Olympics. In the most successful debut performance in the history of the sport he won gold in his weight category and silver in the open weight category. There were too many notable features in his performance to list them all in one post, but I will say this is one of the most memorable performances in my entire coaching career – it was a privilege to play a small role in his preparation and then observe up close this incredible debut. Mr Ryan is not even close to his full potential and is determined to improve for future world championships. This is only the second time an American has won two medals at one ADCC (Mark Kerr won double gold in the early days of ADCC). Our whole team is so proud of his great accomplishment, as are his Mom and Dad, who traveled all the way from New Jersey to watch their Uber talented progeny. So much great work from the whole squad – I will say more in the near future. I hope you all enjoyed the big show. Happy that the approach we bring to jiu jitsu and try hard to communicate to you all through words and deeds had such a strong showing. I am so proud that my dear sensei Renzo Gracie was there (he had a fine win today which I shall talk about very soon) and that I could make him happy with the teams performance. Wishing you all the best from Finland. I will head home to NYC soon to begin the training of Georges St-Pierre for his comeback fight November 4. Thank you to ADCC for another great show – thank you to all the athletes who participated- so many legends among them –
Your presence and achievements fill me with pride for our sport.

Golden boy: Gordon Ryan had the weekend of his life at ADCC world championships- the grappling Olympics. In the most successful debut performance in the history of the sport he won gold in his weight category and silver in the open weight category. There were too many notable features in his performance to list them all in one post, but I will say this is one of the most memorable performances in my entire coaching career – it was a privilege to play a small role in his preparation and then observe up close this incredible debut. Mr Ryan is not even close to his full potential and is determined to improve for future world championships. This is only the second time an American has won two medals at one ADCC (Mark Kerr won double gold in the early days of ADCC). Our whole team is so proud of his great accomplishment, as are his Mom and Dad, who traveled all the way from New Jersey to watch their Uber talented progeny. So much great work from the whole squad – I will say more in the near future. I hope you all enjoyed the big show. Happy that the approach we bring to jiu jitsu and try hard to communicate to you all through words and deeds had such a strong showing. I am so proud that my dear sensei Renzo Gracie was there (he had a fine win today which I shall talk about very soon) and that I could make him happy with the teams performance. Wishing you all the best from Finland. I will head home to NYC soon to begin the training of Georges St-Pierre for his comeback fight November 4. Thank you to ADCC for another great show – thank you to all the athletes who participated- so many legends among them – Your presence and achievements fill me with pride for our sport.

A post shared by John Danaher (@danaherjohn) on Sep 24, 2017 at 10:15am PDT