In a recent appearance on Joe Rogan‘s Companion for UFC London, jiu-jitsu world champion Gordon Ryan provided an update on his ongoing health struggles and his potential return to competition.
Ryan, widely regarded as the greatest grappler of his generation, has been dealing with severe digestive issues that have plagued him for years, stemming from prolonged antibiotic use that devastated his gut health.
“I can eat a little bit more,”
Ryan told Rogan when asked about his current condition.
“I’m eating better meals, but training hard is still tough. Whenever my heart rate gets super high and I start to get tired from a hard session, I still get super nauseous.”
The champion explained the complex nature of his illness, which primarily affects his small intestine.
“Doctors know more about space than we do the stomach,”
Ryan said.
“My issues are in the small intestine, which is the hardest one to treat because they can look at your stomach with an endoscopy and they can look at your large intestine with a colonoscopy, but to figure out what’s going on in your small intestine is completely different—they just can’t scope it.”
Ryan described how antibiotics severely damaged his health:
“Antibiotics f**ked my life up way more than anything else I’ve ever done to myself by far.”
He explained how he got caught in a cycle of staph infections requiring antibiotics, which further weakened his system and led to more infections.
After consulting numerous specialists, Ryan finally found a doctor who identified multiple issues through specialized testing that other physicians weren’t even aware existed. His treatment now involves a combination of holistic approaches, including binders for mold toxicity, probiotics, prescription antifungals, and gluten shields to coat his digestive tract.
Ryan‘s primary focus currently is opening his new jiu-jitsu school in North Austin, a project that’s been in development for about two years.
“We’re right at the tail end of getting that open,”
he said.
“Once we get that open and up and running, then I’ll jump back in if I’m healthy.”
Despite these serious health challenges, Ryan has maintained his dominance in grappling, showcasing his mental fortitude and technical superiority. When Rogan asked if he’d ever worked with a mental coach, Ryan explained his approach:
“I believe that confidence is built in the gym through training. If you hit an arm bar 10 times out of 10 in training, you’re pretty confident that it’s going to work.”
Ryan‘s ability to compete at such a high level while battling serious health issues is remarkable.
