Gordon Ryan Vs Felipe Pena Arch-Rivalry and Historic WNO Rematch of 25 February 2023

1. No-Gi King Gordon Ryan

After the split of the Danaher Death Squad, Gordon Ryan chose to stick with the BJJ wizard and one of the greatest BJJ instructors, John Danahar. Gordon Ryan is a personality everybody is aware of inside and outside of the BJJ community. In the last decade, his outstanding win and commitment to BJJ made him stand out.

2. The Highest-Paid Jiu-Jitsu Player of Modern Era

Recently Gordon secured one of the most lavish sponsorship deals with Bitcoin Cash in 2022 and then with FloGrappling in 2023. 28 years Gordon loves to engage on social media. His Instagram is full of his stories, trash talk, memes, and daily updates. He loves to engage with his audience in the comment section. This is one the most overlooked element of his popularity among Gen Z apart from his unmatched on-mat performances.

The majority of the BJJ community is based in Brazil and Gordon being an American BJJ King often claimed to be sidelined by the Brazilian champions.

Just like Conor McGregor, Gordon is also filthy rich and known for his non-stop self-motivated trash talk.

And YES, undoubtedly it is the peak of Gordon’s career. He seems invincible and said:

''Everybody loses, and I am going to lose eventually, it’s just a matter of time. I'll get disappointed or something you know. Maybe I'll make some mistakes and get submitted. It's very unlikely but there will be someone eventually that will beat me.” 

3. Is it the Peak of Gordon Ryan’s Career?

Just like any other champion, Gordon Ryan is also expected to suffer a loss by everyone except John Danahar. When you maintain a long win streak the viewers want some change, rivals, and critics start to find the elements of hubris. And just like anyone else Gordon is not invincible. Yes! He is currently unbeatable, he worked hard to earn this status and toil even harder to maintain the expectations.

4. What is it like to be Gordon Ryan?

Gordon is an entertaining personality. He loves to talk, lives up to his earned status, and likes to take screenshots of his old conversations with rivals and remind them when the right time comes. Rightfully takes pride in his achievements, and claims to be the King of No-Gi. When you train under the patronage of someone like John Danahar what else could you expect?

5. Flying Glace at some of Gordon’s Accomplishments

During the last five years, Gordon has won over 60 matches in a row.

• 2019 ADCC Double Medal Gold Winner
• No-Gi World Double Gold Medal Winner
• No-Gi Pans Double Gold Medal Winner
• 2022 ADCC Double Gold Medal Winner

6. The Persistent Felipe Pena

Felipe Pena is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Competitor and represents Gracie Barra. He is a third-degree Black Belt under Marcelo Azevedo. He used to train with legendary BJJ instructors like Romulo Barral and is currently preparing for 25th February under Andre Galvao. He is considered one of the few top No-Gi BJJ competitors of the modern era.

Felipe Pena is the only grappler who has submitted the No-Gi King Gordon Ryan Flying Glace at some of Gordon’s Accomplishments

• IBJJF Gold Medal Winner in 2019
• IBJJF World Gold Medal Winner in 2018/2019
• Gold Medal at AJB Abu Dhabi World Pro in 2015/2016/02017/2018

7. History of Gordon Vs Pena Rivalry

The first encounter of Gordon vs Pena happened in 2016 at Studio 540 SPF and Gordon lost to Pena by RNC submission. This was the first time Gordon also lost to the best friend of Pena, the late Leandro Lo in the 2017 ADCC WC Trials.

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A post shared by Gordon King Ryan (@gordonlovesjiujitsu)

Gordon is training 8-9 hours daily under the supervision of his head instructor John Danaher.

7.1. Gordon Vs Pena 2017 ADCC

Both fighters faced each other in 2017, it was a nail-biting competition of techniques and power between two arch-rivals.  After the intense 15-minute fight, in the finals of the 2017 ADCC Open weight championship, Felipe defeated Gordon Ryan by points.

7.2. 2022 Gordon Vs Pena Rematch at WNO & 1000 Controversies

It was hyped as the most anticipated No-Gi fight of 2022. The match started and ended after eternal 44 minutes.

A lot of things happened, Felip Pena looked zoned out, he seemed to stop the match but resumed after a brief chat with the referee. After 44 minutes and 44 seconds of intense grappling, Felip Pena verbally tapped and later claimed that FloGrappling refused his request to reschedule the match and he was not in his ideal mental condition because of the recent death of his long-time friend Leandro Lo (1989-2022).

8. The Suffering of Gordon Ryan and his Famous Toyota Corolla

Gordon is often found bragging about the lavish $2 million house and his suffering Toyota Corolla.

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A post shared by FloGrappling (@flograppling)

Social media fans loved the Corolla of King Gordon Ryan.

8.1. Latest Update about the Suffering of Gordon Ryan

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A post shared by Gordon King Ryan (@gordonlovesjiujitsu)

9. The Most Anticipated No-Gi Rematch of 2023

Fast forward 6 months and in the February of 2023, both rivals are training as hard as they can to clash on the 25th of February at WNO. Since their last encounter, there have been many expected and unexpected developments.

Felipe Pena is training with Andre Galvao and Craig Jones preparing to fight Gordon Ryan

Felipe Pena decided to train at the gym of his long-time arch-rival Andre Galvao. When asked about this development, Andre said,

 He is incredible. He (Felipe Pena defeated me in 2014), we became super, like big rivals and enemies after that match".

Felipe Pena training at Atos of Andre Galvao

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A post shared by Felipe Preguiça (@felipepenabjj)

The head instructor of Gordon Ryan John Danahar said,

“They (used to) f****** hate each other. They almost came to blows a couple of times”.

No-Gi king Gordon Ryan expressed:

 “I feel like Felope assembled the avengers to try to take me down and I am a Thanos but it ends like the first movie”.

Gordon also said,

"I am taking this match as the most important match of my career".

10. What is the Future of Gordon Ryan in the Opinion of John Danaher?

John gave us a bit of his philosophical medicine when asked about the future of Gordon Ryan.

"A general rule in life is as you grow you get a number of distractions in your life and as a number of distractions increase, the very thing that made you great in the first place which is a routine life, GETS DISTURBED."

11. Roger Gracie about Gordon Ryan’s GOAT Status

When asked about the status of Gordan Ryan as a GOAT, Roger Gracie said:

No doubt Gordon is the best among the contemporary No-Gi grapplers, but it is the end of a fighter’s career that defines his greatness not the peak of his career.

12. Is Gordon Ryan Prepared to Face and Recover from a Loss?

Gordon said, ''Everybody loses, and I am going to lose eventually, it's just a matter of time. I'll get like outpointed or something you know. Maybe I'll make some mistakes and get submitted. It's very unlikely but there will be someone eventually that will beat me. 

13. John Danaher about Gordon Ranyan Vs Felipe Pena

When asked about the skill and technique of both fighters, John said,

“they both are best at what they do in the world although it’s the result that counts and you can’t take it personally and LET'S GET IT DONE.

14. Andre Galvao about the Gordon Ryan vs Felipe Pena

Andre Galvao expressed,

"Emotionally, Felipe will be stronger physically as well. I think physically he can be better than he was. Gordon Ryan, now: when you are a champion everybody's like he (Gordon) needs to lose, he needs to lose, everybody wants you to lose and Felipe is the guy that can make it happen

Photo Credit: @thesportsgeek