All hell broke loose at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club’s (ADCC) latest grappling event in Krakow, Poland. Gordon Ryan’s pupil, Dorian Olivarez, defeated Kazakhstan’s Bezkat Kapashov in a heated matchup. However, that tension spilled over as the Kazakh grappler’s team allegedly confronted Ryan and his coached fighter after the loss at the ADCC event. Soon, a massive brawl erupted, plunging the entire event into chaos.

A viral clip showed punches flying from everywhere, with Gordon Ryan attempting to throw punches at the Kazakh confrontors. Following the incident, the 31-year-old has finally reflected on what actually went down in Poland through an Instagram video.  

“So, obviously, I’m coaching Dominick,” Ryan said. “I have no idea what’s going on, I’m just coaching Dominick, and Dorian and the Kazakh kid are competing. They get into whatever scuffle or argument, whatever the case is, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that it’s just John, Mike, and Dorian. John and Mike are in their 50s, 60s. So it’s just the three of them and like 15 Kazakh guys. 

“So this is all happening, and I’m like, for sure when this match is over there’s going to be a fight. 100 percent. So I angle my chair toward their mat while I’m still coaching Dominick. The match ends, the fight starts, so I’m like, OK, we’re going to have a fight. Like 15 Kazakh dudes jump John, Mike, and Dorian. So I jump in, I crack the first guy, the second that one of them sees me, a couple of them start yelling, ‘Gordon, Gordon, Gordon!’ So they all turn towards me because they realized I was there.”  

After the brawl broke out, Ryan disclosed that the Kazakh fighters started piling onto him, attacking him on his head, which he ultimately managed to withstand. 

“They immediately tackled me, two guys grabbed my legs and pushed me over so I just fell over,”  Ryan added. “Then like five or six of them started hitting me in the head. A couple guys are soccer kicking me, a couple guys are punching me, but I still managed to hoist back up to my knees.

“Even though there were between four and six of them … on top of me, I still heisted up and started coming up to a single-leg. Then the fight got broken up. I stood up, I was like, ‘Cool, fight’s done. Everybody’s cool.’ So I just ran back, sat down, started coaching Dominick. So, thanks to the Kazakh guys for the scrap. That was fun. And always remember, I’m fight of the night, every night.” 

Fortunately, neither Gordon Ryan nor the other fighters involved suffered any injuries because security stopped the brawl before it could escalate further. As a result of the brawl, ADCC disqualified his athlete, Dorian Olivarez, and his opponent, Bezkat Kapashov, from the event. Still, this isn’t the first time Ryan has found himself caught up in a brawl.

After Ryan submitted Roberto Jimenez in 2021, he crossed paths with Brazilian grappler André Galvão backstage. A viral clip showed the Jersey native getting into a verbal confrontation with Galvão that eventually turned physical, with Ryan slapping the Brazilian. 

As of now, it’s not clear whether Gordon Ryan will face any punishment for participating in the brawl at the ADCC Poland event. However, the organization has previously issued a lifetime ban to an athlete for starting a melee. 

Punishment looms for Gordon Ryan after ADCC previously banned athlete following brawl 

Similar to the Poland event, ADCC’s event in Las Vegas in 2022 also turned out to be highly controversial after a brawl broke out. The grappling match between Ty Freeman and Jeferson Guaresi became increasingly aggressive before the confrontation spilled over into them throwing punches, going completely against the rules.

Right after, both fighters’ team members entered the arena and started a brawl that quickly seemed uncontrollable. While the melee was unfolding, zoomed-in footage showed renowned Unity Jiu-Jitsu head coach Murilo Santana pulling up his shirt and revealing an object that made others quickly back away from the brawl. Though the nature of the object remained unclear, ADCC identified it as a knife.

Following the pandemonium, the ADCC event’s promoter addressed the brawl on social media and stated that neither Ty Freeman nor Murilo Santana would ever compete in their events again, punishing them with a lifetime ban. Now, Gordon Ryan’s case is much tamer than what went down in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, but it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the organization punishing the retired athlete for participating in a brawl.

That said, it would be nothing short of interesting to see whether any other details emerge from the other side following the ADCC Poland event.