Gordon Ryan remained a legend in BJJ and grappling for the years he’s been active. The 30-year-old Jersey native has faced almost every star opponent there is, like Marcus Buchecha, Garry Tonon, and Craig Jones, and triumphed against them. However, after a decade-long illustrious career, ‘The King’ is all set to leave his throne, announcing retirement. The reason? A mysterious health condition.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Gordon Ryan announced that he’s retiring from professional grappling and BJJ competition, citing lingering stomach issues that affected his biome and massively impacted his training. So, ‘The King’ had to make a hard decision and say goodbye to the sport.

Gordon Ryan ends grappling career again, citing mysterious stomach issues

“Today marks 10 years at black belt, 10 years on top of the sport, and the probable end to my competitive career,” Ryan wrote on Instagram. “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.”

For fans who feel shocked, this isn’t the first time Gordon Ryan has announced retirement. Back in 2021, the grappling legend also stepped away, citing the same mysterious gut issue before fighting Shinya Aoki in a marquee ONE Championship grappling bout. However, despite dealing with stomach illness, the 7-time ADCC champion somehow came out of retirement and kept building his legacy.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

As for his last few fights, Gordon Ryan competed in no-gi action at ADCC 2024 and hasn’t competed since. So it’s been two years since fans last saw his magic on the mat. And there seems to be a clear reason behind it. Shedding more light, the BJJ legend also revealed he operated at only 10% in his last competition and hasn’t seen any real improvement physically.

“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 added in his Instagram post.  

‘The King’ retires with 169 matches under his belt, securing 157 wins, with 130 of them coming by submission, and just 9 losses in a decade-long career. So, it can be said without any stretch that Gordon Ryan’s career was indeed legendary. Now, what lies ahead? Well, the Jersey star has already given a glimpse of that as well.  

‘The King’ wants to focus on ‘Kingsway’

After years of dominance, Gordon Ryan definitely earned the fame, the legacy, and a deep connection with BJJ fans. However, as the three-time IBJJF champion has finally bid adieu to the game he loves the most, ‘The King’ revealed that the next stop is training future champions at his gym, building athletes and facilities at Kingsway.

“For now, I can confidently say, I am done. I will spend the next few years building @kingsway_hq to its student capacity, opening a global affiliation program, helping the athletes achieve all of their goals and dreams, and sharing all of knowledge with the world.” Gordon further wrote on his Instagram post. “After that, who knows. There are far too many people involved to thank, but you know who you are. To the fans, thank you,” he added.

Alongside performing in grappling competitions, the 30-year-old has also spent considerable time building a jiu-jitsu academy. With his Danaher Death Squad teammate and guide, John Danaher, he established a jiu-jitsu gym called New Wave Jiu-Jitsu in Puerto Rico and stayed there for quite some time. However, last year, Gordon decided to rebrand the establishment as ‘Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu’ to pay homage to his moniker ‘King’.

That said, as Gordon Ryan has finally taken retirement, do you think he will be back once he feels that the illness has been resolved? He’s done it once. Can he do it twice? Let us know in the comments section below.