Gordon Ryan shares health concerns before ADCC 2024: "I’m having a tough time right now”
Gordon Ryan is scheduled to have two super fights at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships, taking place on 17 and 18 Aug. Ryan will face longtime rival Felipe Pena on Day 1, before he takes on Yuri Simoes on Day 2, with both matches being contested for Super Fight World Championships.
Pena currently holds more wins at black belt over 'The King' than any other competitors, with two victories. However, their last match, which took place in 2022, saw Ryan assert his dominance over the Brazilian with crushing pressure before Pena verbally tapped.
Having suffered from a chronic and debilitating stomach problem for over five years now, which forced the 5x ADCC champion to retire from the sport not once, but twice, Ryan was surprisingly transparent about his current condition.
He shared a preview of his two ADCC super fights in a recent promotional video for FloGrappling, where the 28-year old said:
"[Pena] could take three golds, but I'm assuming he's going to take zero because he's looked absolutely terrible up until now. If my body holds up we need to have two more matches, because then it'll be 3-2 to me. For my soul I need that."
He continued:
"That's going to be a tall mountain to climb, going against Pena. This is one of the biggest if not the biggest matches of my life. I'm having a tough time right now. If I could say anything to Felipe right now, if you beat me I'm going to blame it on my stomach issues. But you better not make an excuse if I beat you."
Watch Gordon Ryan discuss ADCC below:
Craig Jones visits Romanian witches to help "cure" Gordon Ryan
Craig Jones and Gordon Ryan were once teammates, but have gone their separate ways and are now fully-fledged rivals.
The pair have been captured going back-and-forth online several times over the years, with Jones taking to trolling 'The King' in any way possible. In one of the Australian's latest antics, he visited Romanian witches whilst in the country, where he mockingly sought help to cure Ryan's persistent health issues.
Watch Craig Jones' describe the incident below (8:48):