Gordon Ryan

Gordon Ryan was born on July 8, 1995, in Monroe Township, New Jersey. He started Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 15 under Miguel Benitez, then trained primarily under Tom deBlass and Garry Tonon at Brunswick BJJ before regularly traveling to New York as a purple belt to work with John Danaher at Renzo Gracie Academy. After a dominant brown-belt stretch that included the Newaza Challenge and the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Tonon promoted Ryan to black belt in February 2016—Tonon’s first black belt—with deBlass, Ricardo Almeida, and Danaher present and sharing responsibility for the rank.

Ryan built his reputation in the submission-only and no-gi circuit as a core member of the Danaher Death Squad. Early black-belt highlights included multiple Eddie Bravo Invitational titles, a notable heel-hook win over Keenan Cornelius, and a breakout ADCC 2017: gold at −88 kg (over Dillon Danis, Romulo Barral, Xande Ribeiro, and Cornelius) plus silver in the absolute after losing the final to Felipe Pena. In 2018 he swept IBJJF Pan No-Gi and World No-Gi at black belt in both weight and absolute, and helped lead Team Alpha Male to the Quintet 3 team title.

At ADCC 2019 he won both −99 kg and absolute—doing so with a heavily bandaged, injured hand—cementing the “King” persona that replaced his earlier EBI stage name “The Iron Dragon.” Persistent stomach illness (initially diagnosed as gastroparesis, later attributed to bacterial/yeast overgrowth and related gut issues after heavy antibiotic use for staph) forced a competitive hiatus in 2021. That same year the Danaher Death Squad dissolved; Ryan and Danaher founded New Wave Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, Texas, while several former teammates formed B-Team.

Ryan returned to peak form at ADCC 2022, becoming the first athlete to win both a weight-class gold (+99 kg, including an 11-second heel hook of Roosevelt Sousa) and the open-weight superfight belt (over André Galvão) in the same event. He also held the Who’s Number One heavyweight title. At ADCC 2024 in Las Vegas he defended supremacy in dual superfights, defeating longtime rival Felipe Pena and Yuri Simões on points. Across ADCC he is a seven-time world champion. Health setbacks have repeatedly interrupted his schedule, and he is widely described among the all-time greats of no-gi grappling for an overwhelmingly submission-heavy record and systematic bottom-game and leglock approach shaped by Danaher’s coaching.