What’s Next for Gordon Ryan? Superfight Options for Grappling’s King

Gordon Ryan stands alone at the summit of competitive grappling. No other athlete in the history of submission-only competition has achieved the level of sustained, suffocating dominance that Ryan has maintained over the past half-decade. With ADCC double gold medals, a Craig Jones Invitational title, and a competition record that reads like fiction, the question facing the grappling world isn’t whether Ryan is the greatest — it’s whether anyone can give him a compelling fight.

That question drives everything. It shapes matchmaking, determines pay-per-view buys, and haunts every potential challenger who steps onto the mat knowing they’re a massive underdog. Finding meaningful superfights for Gordon Ryan has become the sport’s most fascinating puzzle.

The Record That Built a Kingdom

Gordon Ryan’s competitive resume is staggering. His ADCC 2022 performance — winning both the absolute and +99kg divisions in dominant fashion — cemented his status as the most accomplished no-gi grappler of all time. He submitted opponent after opponent, rarely looking troubled, barely breaking a sweat in matches where world-class black belts couldn’t mount any meaningful offense.

His overall record in professional grappling competition sits well above 70 wins with only a handful of losses, most of which came early in his career before he fully matured as a competitor. Since approximately 2019, Ryan has been virtually untouchable. His submission rate is absurd — well over 90% of his wins come by finish, primarily through his signature body lock system and relentless pressure passing that funnels opponents into back takes and rear naked chokes or mounted attacks.

At the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI), Ryan continued his dominance in a format specifically designed to test the best grapplers in the world with significant prize money on the line. The event proved that even when the stakes are higher than ever, Ryan’s level remains a tier above the field.

This level of dominance creates a paradox: the better Ryan gets, the harder it becomes to sell his fights as competitive. And yet, his name drives more interest in grappling than any other athlete alive.

Felipe Pena: The Trilogy That Defines an Era

If any rivalry in modern grappling carries genuine emotional weight and competitive intrigue, it’s Gordon Ryan versus Felipe Pena. Their history is layered with personal animosity, social media warfare, and — most importantly — actual competitive results that suggest Pena is the one man who has consistently been willing to face Ryan and occasionally push him to his limits.

Pena holds an early career victory over Ryan, a result that burns in Ryan’s memory like a brand. Their subsequent matches have seen Ryan extract revenge in devastating fashion, but Pena’s willingness to engage, his physical size, and his own elite-level grappling credentials make him a perpetual threat — at least on paper.

A third definitive match between them would be the biggest superfight in grappling history. Pena’s aggressive guard game and leglock threats present one of the few stylistic puzzles that could theoretically trouble Ryan, even if recent results suggest Ryan has solved that puzzle. The rivalry transcends technique — it’s personal, it’s bitter, and fans would pay significant money to see a rubber match or definitive trilogy conclusion.

The challenge is logistics. Both fighters demand top billing and significant purses. Negotiations between their respective camps have been publicly contentious, with accusations of ducking, unreasonable demands, and bad faith flying in both directions. If the grappling world could will one match into existence, this would be it.

Andre Galvao: Unfinished Business or Closed Chapter?

Gordon Ryan’s rivalry with Andre Galvao is more complicated than it might appear. Galvao, a legendary ADCC champion and multiple-time world champion in both gi and no-gi, represented the old guard when Ryan was ascending. Their eventual match was preceded by years of trash talk, social media confrontations, and a bizarre slapping incident at ADCC that became one of grappling’s most viral moments.

When they finally met on the mat, Ryan handled Galvao decisively, confirming what many suspected — that the generational shift had already occurred. Galvao, while still technically brilliant, couldn’t match Ryan’s physical attributes and systematic approach.

A rematch seems unlikely and perhaps unnecessary from a competitive standpoint. Galvao has shifted focus toward his ATOS academy and his own career legacy. But the historical significance of their rivalry — the new king defeating the old king — remains an important chapter in Ryan’s story. It demonstrated that Ryan’s dominance wasn’t just against his peers but against the previous generation’s best as well.

Craig Jones: From Training Partner to Rival Promoter

The Craig Jones situation is perhaps the most intriguing dynamic in all of grappling. Jones, an elite Australian grappler known for his devastating leg lock game and sardonic humor, was a longtime training partner of Ryan’s at the B-Team and previously at the Danaher Death Squad. Their relationship has oscillated between genuine camaraderie and genuine tension.

Jones is one of the few grapplers who understands Ryan’s game intimately — he’s trained with him thousands of hours, felt his pressure firsthand, and knows the setups and sequences that Ryan favors. That insider knowledge makes him theoretically dangerous in a way that outsiders simply can’t replicate.

But Jones has also become a promoter with the Craig Jones Invitational, which adds layers of complexity. A Ryan versus Jones superfight would be a promotional dream — two of the most popular figures in grappling, with deep personal history, genuine technical intrigue, and a built-in narrative. Jones’s leg lock game versus Ryan’s top pressure and body lock system would create fascinating tactical decisions for both athletes.

The question is whether Jones — who has been more focused on promoting and entertainment — can match Ryan’s competition sharpness. Ryan trains like an obsessive, drilling and rolling with the intensity of someone who takes personal offense at the idea of losing. Jones is elite, but Ryan exists on a different plane of competitive preparation.

Nicholas Meregali: The Gi Legend Goes No-Gi

Nicholas Meregali represents one of the most compelling stylistic matchups available. The towering Brazilian is one of the greatest gi competitors of his generation, with multiple World Championship titles and a game built on devastating collar work, relentless pressure, and a terrifying submission arsenal.

Meregali’s transition to no-gi competition has been closely watched. Under the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu banner, he’s adapted his game and shown flashes of brilliance without the grips and collar ties that defined his gi career. His physical size — he’s enormous even by heavyweight grappling standards — means he wouldn’t be physically overwhelmed by Ryan the way smaller opponents often are.

The matchup intrigue here is legitimate. Meregali’s passing is heavy and methodical, his submissions are varied and powerful, and his competitive mentality is fierce. Could his gi-honed technique translate well enough to trouble Ryan in a no-gi setting? Ryan’s body lock passing system has dismantled every style thrown at it, but Meregali’s length, base, and submission awareness from bottom positions could create problems that shorter, less technical opponents simply can’t.

This is the fresh matchup the grappling world craves — a new challenger with legitimate credentials, physical tools, and the competitive fire to push Ryan. Whether the match happens depends on timing, money, and promotional alignment.

Giancarlo Bodoni: The Dark Horse From Within

Giancarlo Bodoni doesn’t get discussed in the same breath as Pena or Meregali, but he probably should. The New Wave competitor has shown dramatic improvement in recent years, with a physical game that combines explosive athleticism, solid technique, and genuine finishing ability.

Bodoni’s advantage is youth and trajectory. While Ryan is in his prime now, Bodoni is still ascending, adding layers to his game with each competition cycle. His wrestling base gives him tools that many pure jiu-jitsu players lack, and his willingness to engage in scrambles could create the kind of chaotic exchanges where upsets become possible.

A Ryan-Bodoni superfight would be more of a “king versus contender” narrative, which has its own appeal. Ryan demolishing challengers is part of his brand, but Bodoni has shown enough to suggest he wouldn’t simply be fed to the machine. He’d make Ryan work, and in a sport where making Ryan work is itself an achievement, that counts for something.

The MMA Question: ONE Championship and Beyond

The most dramatic potential chapter in Gordon Ryan’s career isn’t another grappling match — it’s the persistent rumor of a transition to mixed martial arts, specifically under the ONE Championship banner. Ryan has publicly discussed MMA ambitions on multiple occasions, and ONE’s willingness to sign grappling stars (as they’ve done with other high-profile submission artists) makes this more than idle speculation.

An MMA debut would fundamentally change the conversation. Ryan’s grappling is so dominant that his ability to take anyone down and submit them is essentially guaranteed — but MMA introduces variables that grappling doesn’t: strikes on the feet, the clinch, ground-and-pound from top position, and the ever-present threat of a knockout that no amount of guard pulling can prevent.

Ryan’s physical transformation over the past several years — he’s added significant muscle mass and has spoken openly about training striking — suggests this isn’t purely hypothetical. His team, including John Danaher’s tactical mind, would design an MMA approach that maximizes Ryan’s grappling while minimizing time spent in his opponents’ areas of expertise.

The counterargument is risk. Ryan is the undisputed king of grappling. An MMA loss — even a competitive one — introduces a narrative crack in his aura of invincibility. Combat sports history is littered with dominant specialists who crossed over and discovered that elite-level competition in a different discipline is humbling regardless of how good you are in your own domain.

For fans, though, this is the most exciting possibility. It represents the unknown, the genuinely unpredictable, in a grappling career that has become almost too predictable.

Why It’s So Hard to Find Gordon Ryan an Opponent

The practical difficulty of matchmaking for Ryan comes down to several overlapping factors. First, the talent gap is real. Ryan isn’t marginally better than the field — he’s categorically better. Potential opponents know this, and while they’re competitors with pride, they’re also professionals with brands to protect. A decisive loss to Ryan can define a career in the wrong direction.

Second, money complicates everything. Ryan commands significant appearance fees and purse guarantees, as he should given his drawing power. But grappling doesn’t have the revenue infrastructure of boxing or MMA, which means promoters struggle to build cards where Ryan’s compensation doesn’t consume the entire budget. Opponents also want to be paid well for taking on a fight they’re likely to lose, which further inflates costs.

Third, promotional fragmentation divides the talent pool. With multiple competing organizations — ADCC, CJI, Who’s Number One, various regional promotions — getting the best matchups requires cross-promotional cooperation that often doesn’t materialize. Exclusive contracts, personal grudges between promoters, and competing business interests all conspire to prevent the superfights fans want.

Finally, there’s the stylistic problem. Ryan’s game is designed to neutralize variety. His body lock system works equally well against guard players, wrestlers, and leg lockers. He’s systematically closed the doors that opponents might use to create chaos, making it extraordinarily difficult for anyone to impose their game plan against him.

Ryan’s Impact on Grappling Pay and Promotion

Whatever you think of Gordon Ryan’s personality — and he is deliberately polarizing — his impact on professional grappling economics is undeniable. Before Ryan (and a handful of other figures), professional grapplers earned modest livings primarily through teaching, seminars, and sponsorships. Competition purses were modest, and the idea of a grappling “pay-per-view” was barely a concept.

Ryan helped change that. His trash talk, his social media presence, his willingness to create narratives and feuds — all of these borrowed from professional wrestling and boxing promotion, and all of them worked. Grappling events featuring Ryan consistently draw more viewers, more engagement, and more revenue than events without him.

The CJI’s six-figure purses, the increased sponsorship money flowing into the sport, the growing mainstream media coverage — Ryan didn’t create all of this single-handedly, but he’s been the primary catalyst. He proved that a grappling athlete could be a draw, could sell events, and could justify the kind of compensation that was previously reserved for fighters who also got punched in the face.

This has a trickle-down effect. As top-line purses increase, the entire ecosystem benefits. Mid-level competitors earn more. Events can afford better production. Media companies are willing to invest in grappling content. Ryan’s dominance has been economically generative for the sport even as it creates competitive stagnation at the top.

The Problem of Dominance in Combat Sports

Gordon Ryan’s situation isn’t unprecedented in combat sports, though the degree of his dominance might be. Boxing had Lennox Lewis struggling to find worthy opponents. MMA had Amanda Nunes, whose reign at the top became so absolute that title fights felt like foregone conclusions. Heavyweight wrestling has seen periods where one athlete simply towered above the competition.

The pattern is always the same: dominance is impressive but eventually threatens to become boring. Fans crave competition, uncertainty, the possibility that tonight might be the night the king falls. When that possibility shrinks toward zero, engagement follows — not immediately, but gradually, like air leaking from a tire.

The solutions are limited. You can manufacture intrigue through promotional storytelling, which Ryan does better than anyone in grappling. You can expand into new arenas — like MMA — where uncertainty is reintroduced. You can wait for the next generation to mature, hoping a Meregali or Bodoni develops into a legitimate threat. Or you can lean into the dominance itself, marketing Ryan as a once-in-a-generation phenomenon whose matches are worth watching for the artistry even when the outcome feels predetermined.

Ryan, to his credit, seems to understand this. His willingness to discuss MMA, his engagement with promotional theater, and his constant evolution as a grappler all suggest someone who is aware that standing still — even at the top — is a form of decline.

What Comes Next

The most likely near-term superfight for Gordon Ryan involves either Felipe Pena or Nicholas Meregali, with the Craig Jones matchup simmering as a possibility that could explode into reality given the right promotional circumstances. Any of these three would generate massive interest and respectable pay-per-view numbers by grappling standards.

The MMA crossover remains the wild card — the one move that could fundamentally reshape Ryan’s legacy and the sport’s trajectory. If Ryan enters ONE Championship and wins, he becomes a crossover star with mainstream appeal that pure grappling can never fully provide. If he loses, the grappling community gains a narrative of human vulnerability that might actually increase interest in his mat returns.

Either way, Gordon Ryan’s next move matters more than any single athlete’s decision has ever mattered in submission grappling. He has built a kingdom, defended it against all comers, and now faces the eternal question of every dominant champion: what’s left to prove, and who’s left to prove it against?

The answer, for now, remains tantalizingly uncertain — which is exactly how Ryan likes it.