Gordon Ryan may have hit the mats for the last time.
The all-time grappling great appeared to announce a retirement from competition on Monday, writing on Instagram, “For now, I can confidently say, I am done.” The 30-year-old cited his frustration with recurring stomach health issues as his reason for stepping away.
Ryan is widely considered one of the best grapplers of this generation, having won numerous competitions around the world over the past 15 years. He holds wins over a litany of notable contemporaries, including longtime rival Felipe Pena, Nick Rodriguez, Andre Galvao, Marcus Buchecha, Garry Tonon, and Craig Jones.
However, Ryan’s health issues have limited his appearances in recent years and he has not competed since a win over Josh Saunders in June 2024.
“Today marks 10 years at black belt, 10 years on top of the sport, and the probable end to my competitive career,” Ryan wrote. “As many of you know, I’ve had this debilitating and seemingly unfixable stomach issue since recurring staph infections/antibiotics wiped out my good gut biome. Without going into too much boring detail, the problem has gone through phases of better and worse over the years, and has now morphed into a multitude of new problems, including me just getting sick or staph whenever I train hard and compromise my immune system in any way. Because of these issues, I have not been able to train or lift hard since January of 2024, as I just begin dry heaving immediately when I do.
“I competed in ADCC with no camp, at 10 percent of how I should have been operating, and I have seen no improvement in my condition since. This, of course, has been immensely frustrating, as my technical skills are far better than ever, my body is otherwise very healthy, and I’m only 30 (10 years from my prime). I have so much more left to give if I could just fix this one issue.”
Ryan concluded his statement by writing that he is focusing on solving his health issues and growing his gym. He did not rule out a return to competition in the future, and added he hopes to have two more matches against Vinny Magalhaes and then a proper retirement bout against Pena.
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