USADA interference would 'ruin' UFC Fight Pass grappling tournaments, says BJJ legend Gordon Ryan - "Puts you at an extreme disadvantage"

Gordon Ryan, widely regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in history, has expressed reservations about introducing United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing into the grappling world.

Ryan, a five–time ADCC World champion, has been absent from active competition since December 2022 due to health concerns. However, his recent public appearances at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational and UFC 290 have brought joy to his fans and provided a glimmer of hope for his potential return to competition soon.

At the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 Absolute tournament, former teammate Nick Rodriguez emerged as the victor in the eight-man grappling tournament. Rodriguez seized the opportunity to call out Ryan for a USADA-tested rematch between the two.

However, Ryan declined the offer and articulated his stance on keeping USADA out of UFC Fight Pass-related grappling events. Speaking in an interview with Bruce Buffer on the podcast IT'S TIME, Ryan stated:

“I think if USADA steps into, like, Fight Pass events, for example, it’s gonna ruin Fight Pass events. And the reason is that if you’re competing in a Fight Pass event or if you’re competing on a Fight Pass Invitational and you’re getting randomly tested, that means now that you’re the only person in the sport who’s getting tested and a person who’s competing on FloGrappling for example, or ONE Championship, isn’t getting tested. So that means you have to be competing naturally for those specific events where everyone else in the sport can be on PEDs [performance-enhancing drugs]."

Further justifying his opinion, Gordon Ryan added:

“I definitely think USADA coming in would have to be across the board rather than just one organization or another,” Ryan said. “If USADA did come in and start testing across the board, I would love to actually compete against all of my opponents naturally because the only way that they survive for any amount of time is they just juice their way out of things for 10 minutes until they get tired."

Catch Gordon Ryan's comments below (24:30):

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Gordon Ryan invites Mark Zuckerberg to his training camp to take on Elon Musk in a potential clash

The hype surrounding the potential clash between tech titans Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk has reached a fever pitch, with Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Gordon Ryan stepping into the fray.

Amidst the fiery exchange of social media jabs, Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, has personally reached out to Ryan, according to the grappling star. Ryan claims that he invited the Facebook founder to join his training camp in California ahead of what promises to be an electrifying showdown.

Shedding light on the interaction with Zuckerberg in the aforementioned podcast, Gordon Ryan stated:

“Elon is actually training with Jon [Danaher] and the guys here because George came and he was training with Elon... And Zuckerberg actually messaged me. He wants me to go out to California sometime and train with him. So, I didn’t get to train with Elon or Zuckerberg yet, but John trained with Elon and I’ve seen Zuckerberg train and compete.”