The most awaited grappling event of the end of the year will go down at Studio 540 in Solana beach, California on December 17th and will be financed by Mr Mo Jassim, an Emiratee businessman who is a big grappling fan as well as an ADCC referee.

Gordon Ryan will be involved in a one hour long submission only match against Felipe Pena.

Gordon Ryan told BJJEE.com about his motivation behind this superfight:

This is a match I’ve wanted for a while. Pena is very tall and long like myself. He was one of my favorites to watch last adcc with his aggressive guard passing style. He’s one of the biggest names in modern submission grappling and it’s going to be an honor to compete against him. I’m just a young kid who wants to test himself against the greatest names to ever compete. Shout out to Mr Pena for accepting .

The fight will be streamed online by Flograppling for free!

Gordon Ryan revealed a few hours ago that he has been very ill coming into this match and was battling stomach pain and diarrhea:

Im a few hours away from stepping on the mats to compete against one of the best submission grapplers on earth. And I must say that this is BY FAR my worst camp ever. Leading up to this match (last week and a half of training) I became very ill (could hardly train). Constant sweating with the chills, head and chest congestion followed by a bad cough, little to no energy along with extreme muscle soreness. And to top it all off, stomach pain and dirareah combine with loss of appetite. I lost over 10 lbs (under 180 today) and I was already smaller than my opponent. I’m not writing this as an excuse for if I lose. If he beats me today it’s because he is better right now, and that’s it. I’m writing this to show everyone that if you truly believe in the things you do and the techniques you have that you should be able to go out and compete (and win) against the best no matter what. With all the mishaps and miseries this last week and a half… I will go out today and crush my opponent. Because that’s what champions do.

Despite being sick, Ryan had the help of Keenan Cornelius to get ready for this match:

Keenan Cornelius Helps Danaher Death Squad Prepare for Studio 540 Challenge

Will the “King” be able to pull off a victory despite his condition?