Gordon Ryan recently made an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience and naturally, the conversation eventually turned towards his potential transition to MMA. It’s something that Ryan has been discussing for quite some time, but the buzz surrounding the move started gaining a lot of traction when he was announced as the latest signing to ONE FC for grappling matches and the option to try his hand at MMA. Sadly for any fans of the no gi superstar, it looks as though seeing Ryan step into the cage is actually more of a dream than reality at this point.
It makes sense really, considering that John Danaher went on record long before this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience to say that he was actively discouraging Gordon Ryan from making the transition to MMA. Rogan is just like many other fans of Ryan’s career in that he finds the prospect of seeing how well his grappling talents hold up when he’s got someone raining down strikes on him, or whether he can keep up with fighters who are just as talented on the feet as he is on the floor. Rogan has even said before that he is among those who consider him to be the pound-for-pound greatest of all time, something that might irk fans of Marcelo Garcia or Roger Gracie.
Even if you disagree, his achievements in the sport are undeniable. Even for the vocal minority that actively root against Gordon Ryan, the prospect of seeing him compete in the cage is still a tantalizing one. When he was asked by Rogan, his response was ”A member from my team would have to take over and be as dominant as I am for me to go to MMA” and the sighs of fans around the world were almost audible. Sadly, it seems as though the dream of seeing him face Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida for their respective MMA debuts at ONE FC will remain just that, a dream.
The below excerpt was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of The Joe Rogan Experience, but the full episode is available to watch on Spotify:
