Gordon Ryan believes the implementation of USADA could spell disaster for submission grappling organizations.
Ryan is considered by many to be the greatest BJJ practitioner in the history of the sport, boasting nearly 100 career wins and a slew of world titles. He has also been routinely under fire by other grapplers in the sport, calling out ‘The King’ for his alleged PED usage. Most recently, Ryan’s former foe, Nicky Rod, called out Ryan, challenging him to a USADA-tested rematch after their first bout ended with Ryan having his hand raised via escape time.
Ryan declined Rod’s offer and went on to share his take on how USADA testing could ultimately hurt specific events, such as the UFC Fight Pass Invitational where Rod made his callout of Ryan.
“I think if USADA steps into, like, Fight Pass events, for example, it’s gonna ruin Fight Pass events,” Ryan said on IT’S TIME!!! with Bruce Buffer. “And the reason is that if you’re competing in a Fight Pass event or if you’re competing on a Fight Pass Invitational and you’re getting randomly tested, that means now that you’re the only person in the sport who’s getting tested and a person who’s competing on FloGrappling for example, or ONE Championship, isn’t getting tested.
“So that means you have to be competing natural for those specific events where everyone else in the sport can be on PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs). That puts you at an extreme disadvantage for no reason unless you’re getting paid exorbitant amounts of money. If USADA comes into just one organization, it’s gonna pretty much crush that organization and athletes will just not compete in that organization.”
Nicky Rod with a VERY heavy offer for Gordon Ryan!!#FPI4 pic.twitter.com/KQb9tsxMbE
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) June 30, 2023
Gordon Ryan Believes USADA Testing Has to Be Universal to Be Successful
Gordon Ryan went on to make it clear that he is not against PED testing in the sport but believes that it needs to be universal in order to be successful.
“I definitely think USADA coming in would have to be across the board rather than just one organization or another,” Ryan said. “If USADA did come in and start testing across the board, I would love to actually compete against all of my opponents natural because the only way that they survive for any amount of time is they just juice their way out of things for 10 minutes until they get tired.
“If they didn’t have the physicality, the match would be twice as easy. The only reason they can survive against me, they’re so physically strong I have to tire them out first and then I can submit them.”
Ryan has not competed since his overtime victory against Nicky Rod in December 2022. ‘The King’ was sidelined after suffering a recent health scare, but he has every intention of returning to the mat in 2024.
Transcription by MMA Mania
