"He is the Conor McGregor effect to NoGi" - Veteran UFC referee answers which fighter made ADCC popular

UFC referee Marc Goddard recently named a grappler who he believes is "the Conor McGregor of NoGi" grappling. Goddard holds Gordon Ryan responsible for popularizing grappling as McGregor popularized MMA.

ADDC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Submission Fighting World Championship is arguably the biggest submission grappling league in the world today. A fan asked on Twitter what made the ADCC as big as it is today. Goddard responded with:

"Gordon Ryan. He is the Conor McGregor effect to NoGi."

Gordon Ryan recently defeated grappling legend Andre Galvao to win the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship 2022. In a dominant showing, the 27-year-old took a 12-0 lead before sinking in a rear-naked choke that forced the tap from Galvao.

Watch the sequence below:

This was Ryan's fifth ADCC title, having earned his fourth earlier in the day by winning in the +99 kg division. Ryan's victory over Galvao also essentially marked the passing of the torch from the 40-year-old veteran to the 27-year-old who is now the face of the sport.

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When Gordon Ryan slammed Conor McGregor's game plan for Khabib Nurmagomedov fight

Khabib Nurmagomedov put his lightweight title on the line against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in 2018. Much like Nurmagomedov's other opponents, 'The Notorious' failed to come up with an answer to the Dagestani's aggressive grappling despite being well aware of it. The Irishman was dominated by 'The Eagle' on the ground en route to a crippling fourth-round submission loss.

Grappling standout Gordon Ryan criticized McGregor's jiu-jitsu in the aftermath of his loss to Nurmagomedov. Revealing their gameplan, McGregor's coach John Kavanagh claimed that they planned for the Irishman to try and tire out 'The Eagle' in the early rounds before letting go in the latter rounds.

Ryan slammed McGregor's camp for failing to come up with a gameplan to get him back on his feet instead of staying defensive on the ground. 'King' wrote in a now deleted tweet:

"You guys had 2 f*cking years to prepare for this fight and you couldnt come up with a creative and reliable way of getting back to the feet? In 2 years of preparation that’s the best plan you had? To “ride out the takedowns on bottom and save energy?” Lol how about game planning robust ways of hip heisting and getting back to your feet to actually attack. Wtf lmao" h/t bjjee.com