Rising jiu-jitsu star Tye Ruotolo has made bold claims about Gordon Ryan suggesting that Ryan’s dominance stems more from performance enhancement than technical prowess. In a recent interview Ruotolo didn’t hold back when discussing the decorated grappler’s success.
“I personally believe that my jiu-jitsu is definitely better than Gordon’s for sure,” Ruotolo stated confidently. “I think Gordon’s success really came after he gained like 60 lbs of synthetic muscle, you know.”
The ONE Championship competitor’s comments paint a picture of Ryan as someone who relies heavily on physical advantages rather than pure technique. Ruotolo emphasized his belief that many were evenly matched with Ryan before his physical transformation noting,
“there’s a lot of my teammates were beating him before he did that.”
Perhaps most remarkably Ruotolo revealed that he has actually submitted Ryan in training despite Ryan’s current status as one of the sport’s most feared grapplers. When asked directly if he had ever made Gordon tap Ruotolo confirmed:
“I tapped him. Yeah. That same day. Yeah. He got me in a heel hook and I tapped him.”
The submission reportedly occurred in 2022 well after Ryan’s rise to prominence and physical transformation.
“Yeah, he’s after all his titles and stuff,”
Ruotolo clarified indicating this wasn’t against an early-career version of Ryan.
Ruotolo’s assessment of their encounters reveals his belief in technique over brute strength. When describing a heel hook Ryan caught him in he explained:
“I knew it was pure. It wasn’t technical. I could tell.”
This distinction appears central to Ruotolo’s criticism – that Ryan’s success comes from overwhelming physical advantages rather than superior grappling skill.
The young phenom who has been training jiu-jitsu since age three clearly believes his technical foundation gives him an edge.
“I’ve been doing jiu-jitsu since I was 3 years old. Every day of my life,”
he emphasized when discussing their skill comparison.
Despite Ryan’s current health struggles Ruotolo remains eager for an official match.
“I always want to prove myself against the best. I always thought that I could beat Gordon,”
he stated.
“I wanted to take down Gordon before I d**.”
While acknowledging Ryan’s openness about performance enhancement use Ruotolo’s comments suggest he views the ADCC champion’s achievements through a different lens – one where synthetic enhancement overshadows natural talent and technical development. Whether these bold claims will translate into a future match remains to be seen.
