The BJJ scene has undergone a significant transformation over the past decade. The popularity of BJJ Gi seems to be declining while Nogi is gaining traction.
However, that’s not the only change. According to Michelle Nicolini, the consequences for getting caught using PEDs used to be much more severe.
“If an athlete is caught using PEDs, should they be suspended in all organizations? If only one organization punishes them while others turn a blind eye and still treat them as a ‘star’ in another event, I believe the athlete will not be held accountable. In my time, being caught using PEDs meant losing contracts, titles, facing suspensions, and embarrassing others,” Nicolini wrote previously.
Nowadays, even Joe Rogan has discussed Gordon Ryan openly acknowledging his PED use, although it has not been officially confirmed.
“And that’s like where a lot of sports are right now. There’s certain sports like Grappling. Gordon Ryan, who’s the greatest grappler of all time, openly admits to taking PEDs, openly talks about it because everybody’s doing it.”
“And he’s just honest. He’s just like, yeah, I take them. Everybody’s taking them. They’re not illegal in our sport. And if you look at him, he looks like a guy who takes PEDs. He looks like a f***ing Greek god. But you can’t look at him. That’s Gordon Ryan.”
Ryan recently gained attention when he shared a photo of his deflated physique after his latest health issues.
However, Ryan wasn’t always so outspoken. Recently, a clip resurfaced online where he claimed that his team was the only relatively “clean” team.
A younger-looking Ryan expressed:
“People accusing me of being on steroids doesn’t bother me for a few reasons. First, most of the people talking will never compete at the highest levels of anything. And, you know, I’ve accomplished more than most people who talk s**t, so it doesn’t really matter to me. I mean, I browse the internet just for personal pleasure.”
“You know, I enjoy doing it, but at the highest levels, most people, for the most part, are on something. Our team is pretty much the only group that I think doesn’t use ster0ids to a certain extent.”
Ryan’s physique has undergone a remarkable transformation. You can check out the updated version here.
