Craig Jones believes that Gordon Ryan’s on-line persona has not helped develop the game of no-gi submission grappling.
Craig Jones has a novel perspective on Gordon Ryan and his impression on the game of submission grappling.
As a former teammate of Ryan’s on the now-defunct Danaher Demise Squad, Jones is personally accustomed to the multiple-time ADCC world champion. As a longtime veteran of the elite no-gi aggressive scene, Jones can also be well-positioned to touch upon the game and its evolution.
In a current look on the “Jibber with Jabber” podcast, the favored Australian grappler spoke about all kinds of matters – together with Ryan’s contribution to the game of grappling.
Whereas Jones is fast to credit score Ryan as the highest pound-for-pound no-gi competitor, he says that his former teammate’s on-line persona – marked by a torrent of far right-wing political posts and insults hurled towards different BJJ rivals – hasn’t contributed to the expansion of no-gi grappling.
Jones stated:
“Clearly Gordon, I believe, finest grappler. As an individual, fairly unusual. Fairly unusual man, I believe. I believe numerous his schtick on-line, I believe he has helped develop the game, however I don’t suppose it’s got something to do with the schtick he places on. I believe the game is rising regardless of it, not due to it. I don’t suppose his political beliefs or a few of the detrimental issues he stated has helped the game in any respect. A few of his trash discuss has as a result of inevitably that makes you curious about seeing the match. However the entire persona, I don’t suppose. I believe he would have been large if he was only a good man, as properly.”
Take a look at the complete interview beneath.
Jones and Ryan have met thrice in competitors, with Ryan profitable all three.
Jones most lately competed on the UFC Combat Cross Invitational 6 the place he picked up a fast submission win over veteran Rafael Lovato Jr. He’s slated to subsequent compete at Pit Submission Sequence 4 in Abu Dhabi on April 20 when he’ll tackle UFC standout Rinat Fakhretdinov.
Ryan, in the meantime, has been out of competitors since a 2023 victory over Patrick Gaudio. He has competed simply two instances since profitable each the heavyweight and superfight titles on the 2022 ADCC World Championships.
Earlier this yr, Ryan announced an extended leave of absence from competition attributable to ongoing well being considerations, however he nonetheless plans to compete on the 2024 ADCC World Championships in August.
