Gordon Ryan will now be making his return to professional grappling to defend his WNO heavyweight world title against Josh Saunders at Who’s Number One 24 on June 20th, 2024. This is actually the third title-fight that’s been announced for the event so there will undoubtedly be plenty of fans wanting to watch live for several different reasons. Both the featherweight and welterweight titles are being put on the line, with four of the world’s best grapplers meeting in the two matches. That isn’t all of course, as Who’s Number One 24 will also feature a card full of entertaining superfights between exciting competitors.
Most of the attention will likely be on Ryan though, and not just because he’s widely regarded as the top no gi grappler on the planet. This will actually be the first time that fans have been able to see Ryan in competition in 2024 and provided the match goes ahead, it will only be his third appearance since he put on the performance of a lifetime at ADCC 2022. It’s not for lack of trying though, as Ryan has had several matches booked throughout that timeframe and he’s had to pull out of most of them due to a wide range of health issues.
From his traditional stomach issues to general illness and from minor surgery all the way through to a rib injury, Ryan hasn’t been able to stay healthy for very long at all recently. The only match he’s had in the last 18 months was a submission win over Patrick Gaudio at Who’s Number One 20, so naturally it makes sense that Ryan might want to get back in to the swing of things before ADCC 2024 comes around. He isn’t taking things easy in his return though, as Saunders has won a gold medal at ADCC Trials on two separate occasions. Saunders is a physical specimen who’s developed some fantastic skills to compliment that in recent years, and he should be able to present a unique challenge to Ryan in his return.
FloGrappling announced the news that Gordon Ryan was going to face Josh Saunders at WNO 24 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
