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Gordon Ryan recently posted an Instagram story celebrating what ONE Championship is doing for his sport. The jiu-jitsu legend and arguably the greatest no-gi grappler of all time was seen dancing ever so slightly while sporting ONE's official T-shirt.
He wrote in the caption:
"When you see how much @onechampionship is doing for the sport"
It's hard to disagree with 'The King'. ONE has been signing a lot of world-class grapplers to their roster of late. The Asian organization is beefing up its submission grappling arm. It started with Gordon Ryan's Danaher Death Squad teammate, Garry 'The Lion Killer' Tonon. Soon after that, the Singapore-based promotion signed Ryan and his arch-rival, fellow grappling legend Andre Galvao.
Another icon of submission grappling fighting under the ONE banner is Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida. 'Buchecha' is considered by many to be the most accomplished jiu-jitsu competitor of all time and is now fighting in MMA under ONE. Other grappling phenoms signed under the promotion include Danielle Kelly, Mikey Musumeci, Michelle Nicolini, Yuri Simoes and the Ruotolo Brothers.
Not only is ONE paying these athletes more than other organizations, but they're also giving them a larger platform for the world to see their talents. ONE Championship is effectively giving the sport the spotlight it so desperately needs.
"ONE Championship is making grappling great again" - Gordon Ryan's former opponent, Marcus Almeida, on what ONE is doing for the sport of grappling
One of Gordon Ryan's former ADCC opponents and 17-time BJJ world champion, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida, echoes his sentiments tenfold. 'Buchecha' feels that ONE is doing the right thing by showcasing jiu-jitsu in the same vein as MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing.
In an interview with South China Morning post, the Brazilian icon sang ONE's praises:
"That's the best, I think, ONE Championship and [ONE CEO] Chatri [Sityodtong] is doing right now. They are doing a really amazing job with that. It's making the whole world see grapplers like kickboxers, Muay Thai fighters. People that sometimes didn't have the big stage to show their work and ONE Championship is giving them great opportunities."
'Buchecha' further explained the huge difference between ONE and the organizations he's fought for in the past:
"ONE Championship is the place to be. It's making grappling great again... What made me really get out of the jiu-jitsu world is too much politics, too much drama, and too much like, everybody wants to fight, but nobody wants to make the effort. The organizations want you to fight for free, pretty much. So nobody wants to pay the athletes... So being in ONE Championship, fighting MMA and being able to fight grappling, something that I love, something I've been doing my whole life, at the same place and the same cage, for me is something unbelievable. So, for me, it's kind of like a dream come true."
Watch his full interview below:
