Nicky Ryan has just been scheduled to compete against Jonnatas Gracie at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 on December 10th, 2023. This is a fantastic matchup that’s just been added to an already impressive card, as there are a number of exciting superfights booked for the event. In fact Ryan is just one of several B-Team Jiu-Jitsu representatives who are going to be taking to the mats and each of them have been given interesting matchups. Alongside him on the main card, Nicky Rodriguez will be taking on ADCC absolute champion Yuri Simoes.
The team also have a presence in the main event, because Gordon Ryan had to withdraw from his match against Mason Fowler after suffering a rib injury in training. Although there was only around two weeks before the event was due to take place, Haisam Rida stepped in to replace him and he will now be facing Fowler instead. It’s set to be an entertaining event with plenty of action from start to finish, and the addition of this match between Nicky Ryan and Jonnatas Gracie has only added to the anticipation.
Ryan was once one of the most talented young prospects in the sport, but a series of injuries have prevented him from reaching the heights that many would have predicted at the beginning of his career. He’s still an ADCC veteran regardless, and he seems to have fixed a lot of those issues as 2023 has been his busiest competitive year for quite some time. He started out with a decision win over Rene Sousa at WNO 19, before traveling to Japan to help B-Team win Quintet 4. Although this was only two matches, they took place within a little over a month of one another and he returned once again after another month.
Ryan put in a fantastic performance at the ADCC North American East Coast Trials 2023, where he won a silver medal in a stacked 77kg division and submitted every opponent that he beat. While this has been a busy year by Ryan’s standards, it’s been a relatively quiet one for Gracie. He received a 3 year suspension from the IBJJF circuit after the IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2022, and his schedule has slowed down significantly as a result. In the space of time that Ryan has competed in all three of his events this year, Gracie has only had one win over Natan Chueng at ADXC 1. This match will be a great opportunity for Gracie to show he’s still at the top of the sport, while Ryan will get the chance to prove that he might be coming in to the peak of his grappling career.
UFC Fight Pass announced the news that Nicky Ryan would face Jonnatas Gracie at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
