In a recent appearance on ConnectCast, Viktor Doria — manager of Mica Galvão — sparked debate across the BJJ community with a striking comparison.
Doria likened Gordon Ryan’s influence on no-gi jiu-jitsu to Conor McGregor’s transformative role in MMA, arguing that both men fundamentally reshaped how their sports are viewed and consumed:
Gordon is for jiu-jitsu what Conor is for the UFC.
You can say what you want about Gordon. I’ve repeated this countless times.
Some people call me a pain in the ass, but no – it’s just reality.Gordon is for jiu-jitsu what Conor is for the UFC.
That’s it. Period.
Doria pointed out that, much like McGregor’s rise injected unprecedented attention and revenue into mixed martial arts, Ryan has taken no-gi jiu-jitsu from a niche practice into a mainstream spectacle.
Pay-per-view numbers, high-profile sponsorships, and international recognition have followed in Ryan’s wake.
He emphasized the importance of Ryan’s appeal to the American market in driving this shift:
They’re not competing in the same match not with the same promoters.
But with these guys, playing hard, the sky’s the limit.
For Doria, Ryan’s influence extends far beyond his personal dominance on the mats.
He argued that Ryan’s presence directly reshaped the economics of professional grappling:
Why does no-gi pay so much better than kimono?
Because the United States had a great hero in Gordon Ryan.He drove the sport forward in his country in a hard way.
And where there’s attention there’s money.
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