Ffion Davies recently opened up to the world about some recent struggles she’s been having and announced a break from competition, prompting Gordon Ryan to immediately criticise her for it. Davies has been attracting a lot of criticism lately for some of her career choices and it’s not uncommon for public figures to struggle with that level of negative attention. Particularly when much of it goes far beyond balanced criticism and often directly into hatred or abuse, which is completely unwarranted. It’s not uncommon to see athletes take breaks from social media for exactly this reason, or even breaks from public appearances altogether.
The criticism stems from Davies’ recent decision to sign a contract with the UFC, and the impact that may have on the sport. Nobody is able to completely accurately predict the impact that the rise of exclusive contracts will have, but it’s one of the most contentious topics in Jiu-Jitsu right now. While many athletes are choosing to go down that route in order to secure some financial stability for themselves or a boost in exposure from an association with a major brand, others like Craig Jones are vehemently against them due to the damage they can do to a growing sport.
This has meant that many fans have criticised competitors for signing exclusive contracts, but the amount that has been directed at Davies dwarfs anyone else’s. The main reason behind that is that Davies has always been at the forefront of pushing for the growth of women’s Jiu-Jitsu, and some see exclusive contracts as running counter to that goal. The opposite side of that argument is the undeniable fact that the UFC promotional machine is the biggest in combat sports. In fact, Davies herself recently took prime position for the promotion and served as one half of the first female main event at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 11.
Now it seems like fans will have to wait a while before seeing her compete again, as she announced the break and detailed her recent struggles in a post to her official Instagram account:
It didn’t take long for Gordon Ryan to take notice of this and he immediately started to criticise Ffion Davies for her decision. Ryan and Davies have had issues with one another in the past and this isn’t the first time that they’ve clashed on social media. It seems as though their last disagreement is actually what has fuelled Ryan’s response to her decision to step away from competition for a while:
Gordon Ryan didn’t stop there either, he quickly followed that up with another shorter post that referenced the same issues that Ffion Davies was open about:
