Watch: Gordon Ryan at the heart of huge brawl at ADCC 2026
Gordon Ryan is back in the heart of controversy.
Widely considered the premier spot for elite grapplers, the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship takes place once every two years. Approached by some of the top jiu-jitsu stars, ADCC became a haven for grappling fans to see the best fight the best, but it’s not without controversy. During their 2026 event in Krakow, Poland, a huge brawl broke out matside, which involved submission specialist Ryan. The incident unfolded on Sunday, Day 1 of the tournament, but it wasn’t an official clash on the mats that birthed the melee.
Gordon Ryan has made a transition, navigating from being the sport’s most dominant competitor into a full-time coach earlier this year. With chronic health issues as the cause, Ryan has dedicated himself to others, helping them improve their game and taking them to heights he reached on the mats.
During ADCC 2026, Ryan’s American prodigy, Dorian Olivarez, scored an impressive submission victory during a highly physical opening-round match against Bekzat Kapashov. As is often the case with combat sports, tensions flared as soon as the bout came to an end. A large section of roughly 15 Kapashov fans and teammates became volatile, confronting Olivarez and his cornermen.
Seeing his student and teammates outnumbered from the adjacent mat, Gordon Ryan made his presence known. He allegedly hit one of the men before later being taken down by some of the group and repeatedly punched and kicked in the head.
A separate angle of the wild brawl has been released, showing Gordon Ryan moments before, during, and after the altercation.
Check it out below.
“Alright, so here’s my perspective of what just transpired, when it was transpiring,” Ryan said. “So, obviously, I’m coaching Dominic [Mejia]. I have no idea what’s going on; I’m just coaching Dominic. Dorian and the Kazakh kid are competing. They get into a scuffle, an argument, whatever the case is. I don’t know. Still, I don’t know what’s going on… [There’s] like 15 Kazakh guys.”
“So, it’s all happening, and I’m like, ‘For sure, when this match is over, there’s going to be a fight. 100%.’ So, I angled my chair towards that mat while I was still coaching Dominic. The match ends, the fight starts, so I’m like, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a fight.’ 15 Kazakh dudes jump [my team]. 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 then they all turn towards me because they realize I was there. They immediately tackled me. Two guys grabbed my legs, one guy pushed me over, so I just fell over. And then like five or six of them started hitting me in the head. Couple guys were soccer-kicking me. Couple guys were punching me… Then the fight got broken up…”
“Thanks to the Kazakh guys for the scrap. It was fun. And always remember: I’m the fight of the night, every night.”