Nicky Ryan and JT Torres will now face one another in a welterweight superfight at Who’s Number One 23 on May 10th, 2024. The two men are among the best competitors in their weight class and they have both appeared at the ADCC world championship on multiple occasions in the past, although with varying degrees of success. Torres has made more appearances at ADCC and his crowning achievements are the gold medals he won in both 2017 and 2019, while Ryan wasn’t able to make it on to the podium at either of those editions of the tournament.
They both competed in the under 77kg division at ADCC 2022 too, although Ryan went out in the first round and Torres went out in the quarter-final so they never actually crossed paths. Torres has not competed in no gi grappling much since that tournament, with his sole appearance being a decision win over Magid Hage at WNO 17. Ryan has been a little bit more active than Torres, as he has made a handful of appearances for a variety of different promotions. His recent highlights include a decision win over Rene Sousa at WNO 19 and leaving with a silver medal at ADCC East Coast Trials.
Ryan hasn’t been entirely successful though, as his most recent appearance was a decision loss to Jonnatas Gracie at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5. He will undoubtedly be eager to get back in the win column here and a good performance against a legend like Torres would be huge for him, while Torres will be looking to make a statement by beating one of the top contenders in his weight class. Both men have been invited to compete in the 77kg division at ADCC 2024 as well, so this might even serve as the first in a series of matches between them this year.
Ryan was also supposed to challenge Mica Galvao for the WNO welterweight title earlier on in the year but he had to withdraw from the match due to injury and was replaced at the last minute, with Galvao beating Kenta Iwamoto instead. It seems likely then that this match between Nicky Ryan and JT Torres might actually serve as a title-eliminator instead. In fact, Galvao will be competing at WNO 23 as well and he is set to defend his title against Tommy Langaker in an exciting match.
FloGrappling announced the news that Nicky Ryan and JT Torres will face one another in a superfight at Who’s Number One 23 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
