Nicky and Gordon Ryan – brothers and among the most elite of submission grapplers today – don’t see each other much ever since the Danaher Death Squad split.
And, even though the reason behind the rift has still not been made public, the Ryan brothers used to be close.
Nicky shared how it was growing up with Gordon, in a recent “The Simple Man Podcast” episode:
We were pretty close growing up. Like, I would hang out with him and his friends and stuff…
But yeah, he just got super into Jiu-Jitsu at 16 (years old). He would be doing 3-4 classes per day.
Yeah, we were close growing up.
Nicky was around 10 years old when Gordon started training, but it was three years later – when he turned 13 years old – that he joined his older brother on the mats.
And why did he join? Nicky answers:
I mean, we were always involved in it as kids. Because we had the daycare teacher, who would make us just do no-time limit matches on the concrete floor.
Yeah, that’s what got him into it…And then, I was 13 and he kept trying to convince me to go.
And I eventually, one day, just decided to do it as a way to lose weight. Because I was fat as f*ck as a kid.And then I just got addicted to it.
