This article is part of our ADCC 2022 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
Joe Rogan has just become the latest major sponsor of the 2022 ADCC World Championships and of one of the most dominant athletes to ever grace the mats, Gordon Ryan. Originally, Ryan was looking to secure a personal sponsorship for the event as he had one remaining space available and wanted to secure a payment of at least $100,000 in exchange for it. He shocked fans when he announced that he had managed to come to terms with an unnamed sponsor and had his six-figure payment agreed, but it makes a lot more sense now that we know who the sponsor was.
Joe Rogan has been a long-time fan of Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, and has served as the colour-commentator for the UFC for what seems like forever. He’s also an experienced grappler in his own right and although he has never actually competed in the sport officially, he has been seen grappling to defend himself from angry men in the street in the past. Not just that, but Joe Rogan has been open about his admiration for Gordon Ryan as a competitor in the past and in fact, he believes that the reigning ADCC absolute champion is the ‘pound for pound greatest of all time’.
It makes sense then that Rogan would be interested in supporting both Ryan and the ADCC world championships by putting his name down as a major sponsor. The head-organizer for ADCC, Mo Jassim, actually commented on the news of Joe Rogan being a sponsor when it was posted to the official Instagram account of the promotion and Gordon Ryan replied with a joke at the expense of his opponent in the superfight at ADCC 2022, Andre Galvao:
Mo Jassim: I would like to thank Gordon Ryan for landing this sponsorship for ADCC
Gordon Ryan: If there’s 1 athlete who can ever ask for a million dollars to show…. it’s Andre Galvao
Additionally, Ryan also shared the news in a post to his official Instagram account at the same time and he shared a message of thanks to a man who he considers to be a friend:
Gordon Ryan: Happy to announce my new sponsor for ADCC. A brand and a friend I stand behind, no matter how many times he’s canceled 😂. Thanks for being a real dude on and off camera, and giving voices to people who would otherwise have none. JRE will also be an official sponsor of @adcc_official this year. @joeroganexperience @joerogan
