It was a good year for Gordon Ryan, but it took a young Brazilian chasing after him in the final of the No-Gi Pans to make it special. 

Gordon Ryan ended 2018 strong. Double gold medals (weight and absolute) at both the No-Gi worlds and No-Gi Pans solidified his position as our no.1-ranked pound-for-pound no-gi grappler . 

No-Gi Pans went down in September, and it was the first time we had seen Gordon back since a lone superfight earlier in the year. There were many questions over Gordon’s decision to compete under IBJJF rules, which eliminate his trademark heel hook attacks. How would he fare without one of his primary weapons? 

Gordon tore through the competition and met Kaynan Duarte of Atos in the absolute final. 23 and 20 years of age respectively at the time of the match, Gordon and Kaynan went at it in a bout that tested Ryan’s resilience. It looked like the young Brazilian would get his back, much like Felipe Pena had done in previous encounters. Ryan shut down the attack and turned the tide in his favor, eventually submitting Kaynan with his own choke from the back. 

Worth mentioning is that while fans voted for Ryan vs Duarte as the FloGrappling 2018 No-Gi Match of the Year the winner was only 32 votes ahead of second place, a match which featured Gordon’s teenage brother Nicky Ryan against Geo Martinez.