A huge grappling match is set to happen at Third Coast Grappling’s on December 7th: 3x ADCC world champion Gordon Ryan will face the reigning world U23 and 3x NCAA champion, Bo Nickal.
The rules are still unclear but what is known so far is that there will be no guard pulling or leglocks allowed.
Ryan recently had to pull-out of the BJJ Fanatics grand prix because of a rib injury so he won’t be coming in at 100%. Even though there are no heel hooks allowed, Ryan will still have a big advantage over Nickal as most of last matches at ADCC ended up with rear naked choke finishes from the back.
It’s unlikely that Nickal has done done much submission grappling training but he of course will have the huge advantage in the wrestling department where he can score points. Nickal may want to study what Wrestler Mark Kerr did at ADCC where he was able to win the grappling event two times using his top wrestling and top ground control which kept him safe from submissions.
This is an unusual but nevertheless very exciting match up that has gotten the Grappling world excited except for one person: Chael Sonnen.
The ‘American Gangster’ went on a rant explaining how this kind of event and the changing of rules is the reason why Grappling will never make it on mass media such as ESPN:
