Gordon Ryan has recently expressed his respect for the grappling skillset of Jon Jones – the renowned UFC heavyweight champion.
Despite having to pull out from the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 on December 10 due to a rib injury, Ryan was present at The APEX in Las Vegas to watch the matches.
In a post-event media interview, Ryan shared insights from his training experience with Jon Jones.
Here’s what he had to say:
With Jon Jones, he’s very similar to GSP (George St-Pierre) in that he’s not the best in any one area, but the way he combines everything is just on another level.
Even just grappling. Like, his ability to intuitively change his gameplay from, you know, the start of the roll to the end of the roll, from round to round, is incredibly impressive.
It’s all about the adaptability:
So, the most impressive thing is, obviously, his ability to put everything together, but his ability to adapt as the match goes on and change the game plan per what you’re doing.
I was very impressed with him as a person and as an athlete all around.
Check out the two athletes rolling together:
Jon Jones training with Gordon Ryan pic.twitter.com/Sf9VVdWMk0
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 8, 2023
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