All hell broke loose at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club’s (ADCC) latest grappling event in Krakow, Poland. BJJ veteran Gordon Ryan’s pupil, Dorian Olivarez, defeated Kazakhstan’s Bezkat Kapashov in a heated matchup in the round of 16, but the tension between the two sides seemingly continued after the bout.

According to Ryan, after his loss, Kapashov’s team confronted his fighter and coaches, with the situation quickly escalating into a massive brawl. A viral clip showed punches flying as members of both teams became involved, with Ryan himself appearing to throw punches at the Kazakh grapplers.

Now, the 31-year-old has broken his silence on what happened, offering his version of events in an Instagram video.

“So, obviously, I’m coaching Dominick,” Ryan said. “I have no idea what’s going on. I’m just coaching Dominick, and Dorian and the Kazakh kid are competing. They get into whatever scuffle or argument, whatever the case is, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that it’s just John, Mike, and Dorian. John and Mike are in their 50s, 60s. So it’s just the three of them and like 15 Kazakh guys. 

“So this is all happening, and I’m like, for sure when this match is over, there’s going to be a fight, 100 percent. So I angle my chair toward their mat while I’m still coaching Dominick. The match ends, the fight starts, so I’m like, Okay, we’re going to have a fight. Like 15 Kazakh dudes jump John, Mike, and Dorian. So I jump in, I crack the first guy. The second that one of them sees me, a couple of them start yelling, ‘Gordon, Gordon, Gordon!’ So they all turn towards me because they realized I was there.”

Ryan then described what happened after the other fighters turned their attention toward him. According to the BJJ legend, several Kazakh fighters tackled him and began attacking him while he was on the ground. 

“They immediately tackled me, two guys grabbed my legs and pushed me over so I just fell over,”  Ryan added. “Then like five or six of them started hitting me in the head. A couple guys are soccer-kicking me, a couple guys are punching me, but I still managed to hoist back up to my knees.

“Even though there were between four and six of them on top of me, I still hoisted up and started coming up to a single-leg. Then the fight got broken up. I stood up, I was like, ‘Cool, fight’s done. Everybody’s cool.’ So I just ran back, sat down, started coaching Dominick. So, thanks to the Kazakh guys for the scrap. That was fun. And always remember, I’m fight of the night, every night.”

Fortunately, neither Ryan nor the other fighters involved suffered any reported injuries, with security eventually stepping in to stop the melee. ADCC subsequently disqualified both Olivarez and Kapashov from the event.

For Gordon Ryan, however, this isn’t the first time a confrontation at an ADCC event has turned physical.

After submitting Roberto Jimenez in 2021, Ryan crossed paths with Brazilian grappler André Galvão backstage. A viral clip showed the Jersey native getting into a heated verbal confrontation with Galvão that eventually turned physical, with Ryan slapping the Brazilian.

Now, it remains to be seen whether Ryan will face any punishment for his involvement in the latest incident. ADCC has previously shown that it is willing to hand out severe penalties when a confrontation crosses the line.

Punishment looms for Gordon Ryan ADCC brawl

A similar situation unfolded at an ADCC event in Las Vegas in 2022, when a grappling match between Ty Freeman and Jeferson Guaresi became increasingly aggressive before spilling over into a physical confrontation.

The situation quickly escalated when members of both fighters’ teams entered the arena and joined the melee. During the chaos, zoomed-in footage showed renowned Unity Jiu-Jitsu head coach Murilo Santana pulling up his shirt and revealing an object that caused others to back away from the confrontation. While its nature was initially unclear, ADCC identified the object as a knife.

Following the incident, the ADCC event’s promoter addressed the situation on social media and announced that neither Freeman nor Santana would ever compete in the organization’s events again, effectively handing both men lifetime bans.

Gordon Ryan’s situation in Poland appears considerably different from what happened in Las Vegas, particularly given his claim that he was trying to defend his coaches and fighter. Still, his involvement in the melee could put him in an uncomfortable position with the organization.

For now, it remains unclear whether ADCC will take any disciplinary action against the BJJ legend. And with Ryan having now given his side of the story, it will be interesting to see whether any further details emerge from the other side of the confrontation.