The celebrated ‘King’ of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Gordon Ryan, has fired up shots against his long-time rivals, Craig Jones and Nick Rodriguez. On the 18th of August, Jones organized his own grappling event called the Craig Jones Invitational, or CJI, which rivaled the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. Needless to say, the entire world of combat sports was left in awe of the CJI’s massive success and the drama it brought to the front lines. But things began to heat up when Rodriguez sent forth a challenge to Ryan to a $2 million grappling bout, right after he won the first-ever CJI.

But now, Ryan has come up with a new proposal for his rivals. And the stakes are up to a couple of million dollars. 

Gordon Ryan challenges Craig Jones and Nick Rodriguez with $2M on the line

Rodriguez dominated the arena at the CJI as he went on to submit all of his opponents with great finesse. Finally, he rose victorious in the final game against Felipe Andrew and won the $1 million prize money. But right after his phenomenal victory, ‘Nicky Rod’ took a shot at Ryan. Rodriguez claimed that he was the true best grappler in the world. However, that can only be established if he manages to defeat Ryan, a feat that Rodriguez hasn’t yet accomplished. He proposed, “My $1 million versus your $1 million, winner-take-all bet match.”

But ‘King’ had a different plan in his mind. He took to social media to send a reply to Rodriguez. Not only did he accept the challenge, but also dragged Craig Jones into the scene. Targeting the two of his rivals, Ryan wrote, “We either do 2 matches on 1 night, both of you either put up 500k or 1 million each, and I’ll put up 1-2 million, depending. We both compete in the same night, and winners take all. If one of you is too [cat emoji] to accept, I’ll face one of you for 1m vs 1m, which I think is comical seeing as the fact that NF is gonna have to pay roughly 350k I taxes.”

Ryan seemed to believe that it would be quite an easy task for him to claim victories over Jones and Rodriguez, since he had already defeated both of them in the past. But he wasn’t done with the rules. He declared that the bouts won’t be left to the judges’ decision, and will have minimal interference from the referees. On top of that, Ryan asked for long-sleeved rash guards to be a compulsion. Finally, Jones and Rodriguez have to respond publicly if they accept it all. If everything holds strong, the three will compete against each other once Ryan’s health gets the green card. 

‘King’ concluded his long rant with, “I am the king, you follow my rules, or you shut up. And before you bet your new found “wealth”, make sure you’re not gonna default on an irs payment and end up in jail or homeless, because only one of us has a million to blow, and we all know who that is ;). This is mostly a message to NF, bec we all know Craig’s the ultimate can crusher and wants absolutely nothing to do with any kind of physical confrontation with me. Well, at least craig will be at the academy helping you prepare for the camp just like he did for cgi and adcc… oh wait…”

With the rivalry emanating immense heat, the fight fans have often compared the skills of Ryan and Jones. And that didn’t leave the famed UFC color commentator, Joe Rogan too far behind. Who did he choose as the best grappler on the planet? Let’s find out!

Joe Rogan compares Ryan and Jones

During the JRE Fight Companion, Rogan, along with Brendan Schaub, Tony Hinchcliffe, and Brian Simpson, had a detailed discussion about the true champion in the world of grappling. Without wasting a single moment, the JRE host declared that he favored Ryan as the best grappler, and Craig Jones to be the second-best. Needless to say, Rogan seemed to believe that Ryan was the only one standing between Jones and the number one spot.

The UFC commentator said, “If you didn’t have this dude training 365 days a year, every single day, studying like an ant, super smart, freakishly strong, with technique off the charts—the best ever—if that guy doesn’t exist, Craig Jones is number one. Bro, Gordon is a special athlete, man. You know, there’s a kind of mind that guy has; that’s one in ten lifetimes.”

Now, the world of combat sports has a chance to witness the three of the greatest grapplers fighting each other to determine who stands at the highest spot. But the only condition is for Jones and ‘Nicky Rod’ to agree to Ryan’s proposal. Who do you think will win all the money if the tournament ever takes place? Let us know what you think of Ryan’s proposal in the comments down below.