Allan Goes, a 7th degree coral belt and eight-time Brazilian national jiu-jitsu champion who competed in Pride FC, the UFC, and IFL, is raising a pointed question about Gordon Ryan, the dominant submission grappling star who has yet to step inside an MMA cage.
In a recent podcast episode, Goes drew directly on his experience under the legendary Carlson Gracie, having earned his black belt at just 18 years old, to argue that the jiu-jitsu Ryan has built his career on simply does not translate to mixed martial arts.
“Where’s Gordon Ryan?” Goes asked. “How many mixed martial arts matches does he have?”
Goes acknowledged that Ryan’s financial success in grappling is real, but suggested that it is not the full picture.
“He could make twice as more,” he said. “He’s great in the jiu-jitsu sport. Put him in MMA. He got a bouncing head like Buchecha is bouncing his head to put himself together.”
The reference to Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida, the former multiple-time IBJJF world champion now competing in ONE Championship, was deliberate. Goes sees Buchecha’s transition as a direct illustration of what happens when modern sport jiu-jitsu meets the cage.
“He’s been practicing only those berimbolo and this lapel and this lapel movement,” Goes said. “All that stuff that will not be applied when you start taking punches on the face, when people start breaking your teeth. That thing’s not going to work.”
For Goes, the problem runs deeper than any one athlete. The jiu-jitsu celebrated in competition today was built for grappling environments, not for what happens when strikes enter the equation.
“This jiu-jitsu that’s being applied today is great. A lot of submission, a lot of berimbolo and switching here and switching movement there. But this is not efficient for mixed martial arts.”
He also pushed back on the common approach of training transitioning grapplers to become strikers from scratch, calling it a recipe for failure. His argument is that striking should be used to set up and complement the jiu-jitsu game, not replace it. Athletes who abandon two decades of grappling development to chase boxing skills are, in his view, making a critical mistake.
Goes credits Carlson Gracie’s demanding training methods as the foundation for a style of jiu-jitsu that was forged under pressure and built to hold up against all combat styles. By that standard, much of what passes for elite jiu-jitsu today would not hold up the moment punches start landing.
