Gordon Ryan made his return to BJJ competition at Who’s Number One, where he took on UFC welterweight competitor Phillip Rowe in an exhibition match and the results were somewhat predictable. The matchup drew some criticism from many fans and competitors due to the mismatch in technical skill between the greatest no gi grappler of all time and a man who’s only just begun his UFC career with a 1-1 promotional record. Rowe is no stranger to professional grappling though, as he’s competed on the Who’s Number One stage before against Combat Jiu Jitsu welterweight world champion Kody Steele.
In the end, the match was just as one-sided as many predicted and across a single fifteen-minute round, Ryan managed to submit Rowe a total of four times without ever being in any real danger himself. The first submission came almost immediately when he heelhooked Rowe inside of the first minute but after that he seemed to slow down and take his time, competing in a much more playful manner given that it was an exhibition match. In his post-fight interview, Rowe revealed that there was actually a reason behind his hand being wrapped up during the match:
“I broke my hand on Saturday. I came to this venue with a cast on. When I got to the lobby, I took it off. I broke my fifth metacarpal. I still showed up. I didn’t tell anybody… I took 4 shots of Jack, wrapped it up, and tried to smack him in the face with it.”
Prior to this, Who’s Number One also expanded their championship lineup after the WNO Championships and put three new divisional titles up for grabs. Mikey Musumeci returned after his unsuccessful attempt at the Lightweight title and claimed the Bantamweight one by submitting Richard Alarcon. Shortly after there were two new female titles on the line with Ffion Davies and Beatriz Mesquita both earning unanimous decision wins against Nathalie Ribeiro and Luiza Monteiro respectively.
Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan v Phillip Rowe Full Results
Gordon Ryan defeats Phillip Rowe via Four Submissions To None – 0:45 Inside Heel Hook, 7:04 Arm-In Guillotine, 10:24 Triangle Choke, 13:21 Triangle Choke
Beatriz Mesquita defeats Luiza Monteiro via Unanimous Decision
Mesquita wins the inaugural Women’s Bantamweight Championship
Ffion Davies defeats Nathalie Ribeiro via Unanimous Decision
Davies wins the inaugural Women’s Flyweight Championship
Levi Jones-Leary defeats Oliver Taza via Unanimous Decision
Mikey Musumeci defeats Richard Alcarcon via Submission – Mikey Lock
Musumeci wins the inaugural Bantamweight Championship
Preliminary Card
Jacob Couch defeats Hunter Colvin via Submission – Straight Armbar From Triangle Choke
Brianna Ste-Marie defeats Bri Robertson via Submission – Triangle Choke
Damien Anderson defeats Estevan Martinez via Unanimous Decision
The full Who’s Number One: Gordon Ryan v Phillip Rowe event including all of the above results will available for replay on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
