Gordon Ryan has recently signed a 7-figure contract with FloGrappling – the first of its kind in submission grappling history.
However, the 27-year old athlete has had to work for a long time to get to this point.
Ryan shared how it used to be in an interview for MMA Fighting:
I remember when I started training, in order to win any money grappling you had a win a Grappler’s Quest absolute and it was like three ADCC champions in the bracket, and if you won, you won like $1,000 bucks.
Then I remember EBI and you had to get submissions in regulation and it was $12,500 per submission and it was like a possible $50,000 grand prize. And everyone was like: “That’s crazy!”
That was, like, five or six years ago.
And today, Ryan is more than satisfied with the direction the sport is taking:
Now we’ve just come so far from that. It’s exponential, just getting bigger and bigger each year. More eyes on the sport, the more celebrities that are training.
It’s growing into a mainstream and worldwide sport. I’m very happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short amount of time.
With the lucrative deal painting quite a big target on his back, Gordon is welcoming anyone and everyone willing to challenge him. Why?
Because he feels that he performs better under pressure:
It feels like every match I do, the whole world or at least the whole Jiu-Jitsu world is watching.
Every match is the biggest match of my life because I know if I lose, it’s going to be a national news story. I know any time I compete, all eyes are on me, for good or for bad.
That kind of puts the pressure on me, which I like. I always do better under pressure.
View this post on Instagram
