Andre Galvao has clearly taken some time to consider his thoughts after the altercation between him and Gordon Ryan took place backstage at the last Who’s Number One event, but now he’s finally released his official statement regarding the incident. Ryan on the other hand, wasted no time in making his thoughts on the exchange widely known and used his first statement on the event as an opportunity to take further shots at both Galvao and several of his students at ATOS. The difference in their responses is very clear, as Galvao instead took his opportunity to apologize for the role that he played in the exchange, and in the trash talk that the pair engaged in leading up to the event.
“First of all, I would like to apologize all you guys, apologize my family, to apologize my students, my team, the entire jiu-jitsu community for being involved in this situation, for getting involved in this situation, it was a sad situation.”
Perhaps the part of his statement that most fans will be interested to hear however, is the reason why Andre Galvao didn’t actually react to being slapped by Gordon Ryan. When the footage first surfaced almost immediately after the conclusion of the Who’s Number One event, one of the first things that most fans were surprised it is the fact that Ryan slapped Galvao twice without the ATOS founder escalating the situation any further. This is especially unusual when considering the fact that Galvao isn’t just a grappler and has competed in MMA on numerous occasions over the years, meaning he is no stranger to throwing hands.
“I said mean things, and the violence just escalated. Then he slapped me, so I maintained my self-calm, and I recognized that I made a mistake.” Explaining further, Galvao said “I just thought about my life and my future. A street fight is completely different than a fight on the mat.”
He also went on to explain that he forgives Ryan for his part, and wants to move on from the whole thing: “I don’t want this spirit of revenge in my heart. Gordon, I forgive you. I made a mistake, I recognize my mistake, some people tell me to do differently, but I forgive you man.” After this, Galvao discussed his Christianity, and faith in God.
Galvao released his full statement as a video on his official Instagram account, and it can be seen below, starting in Portuguese with him making a similar statement in English at around the 16:40 mark:
