Gordon Ryan delivered high praise for Jon Jones following the UFC legend’s retirement – calling him not just the greatest American fighter of all time, but the greatest fighter of all time, period.
Having spent eight weeks assisting Jones in what would become his final training camp, Ryan reflected on the experience in a recent social media post.
Known as the king of no-gi grappling himself, Ryan has worked with elite athletes across combat sports, including Georges St-Pierre and Roger Gracie.
But training alongside Jones, he said, brought something unique:
Being able to work with GOATs is a different energy.
Between working with GSP for years, Roger occasionally, and then Jon, you can tell that these guys are just different.There is a different level of respect that true GOATs have toward one another.
According to Ryan, Jones’s ability to learn, adapt, and execute strategies was on an entirely different level from anything else he’s seen in MMA:
For 8 weeks, I had the pleasure of assisting Jon in the final camp of his career and an experience I will never forget and a highlight of my eventual coaching career.
The ability for him to learn, adapt, and execute is on a level unseen in MMA.
Jones retires with a perfect professional record of 30-0, having defeated multiple generations of elite fighters across more than a decade of dominance
For Ryan, that longevity is what truly separates Jones from the rest:
Anyone can get to the UFC. Anyone can win the belt.
That stuff is easy…But to be on top with a target on your back, for more than a decade, beating multiple generations of fighters, staying ahead of the curve, and never losing…
That is something special.
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