The meteoric rise of the "Danaher Death Squad" certainly hasn't been without its criticism. The group's detractors say, "They only win with heel hooks," and, "Their only victories were in EBI," but are those observations really true? 

Gordon Ryan’s gold (-88kg) and silver medals (absolute) at ADCC should have put an end to any notion that John Danaher’s team of killers are anything but legitimate, but many want to know how the squad would fair under IBJJF rules: i.e., no reaping and no heel hooks. 

Though Garry Tonon and Ryan were only on hand as coaches at No-Gi Worlds in Anaheim, CA, this past weekend, the "kohai," or junior members of the DDS, Oliver Taza and Ethan Crelinsten were ready to test their skills against some of the best no-gi IBJJF specialists at the brown belt level. In addition to training with Danaher in New York, both are originally students of Firas Zihabi at Tri-Star out of Montreal. 

Ethan Crelinsten: all simles at No-Gi Worlds. Photo: Michael Sears.

How’d they fare? 

Pretty damn good: Taza earned gold in at lightweight, submitting all but one of his opponents.   Crelinsten placed second in the featherweight division with only submission victories. Check out all of their matches (including the absolute division) below. 

Oliver Taza's No-Gi Worlds Matches

Oliver Taza vs. Juan London

Oliver Taza vs. Shawn Weisenburgh

Oliver Taza vs. Max Ruderman 

Oliver Taza vs. Anthony Way

Oliver Taza vs. Kaynan Duarte

Ethan Crelinsten's No-Gi Worlds Matches

Ethan Crelinsten vs. James Cook

Ethan Crelinsten vs. Mitchell Macdonald

Ethan Crelinsten vs. Zachary Lecates

Ethan Crelinsten vs. Matheus Barros

Ethan Crelinsten vs. Jonnatas Gracie