Gordon Ryan has established himself as one of the greatest grapplers in the history of combat sports. Having won 7 ADCC, 3 IBJJF, and 4 Eddie Bravo Invitational championships, Ryan’s advice is often sought out by even the strongest of mixed martial artists. Yes! Even Jon Jones couldn’t stay away from seeking out Ryan’s help with his grappling. And Ryan had a treat for the MMA realm. 

During their time on the mat together, Ryan stepped forward and showed Jones and the rest of the world a trick to manage an opponent caught in a close guard. The trick was indeed a submission move from close guard. To demonstrate the move, the BJJ King put the UFC heavyweight champion in his close guard. While setting up the stage, he said, “You see, common position in mixed martial arts is we plug in closed guard from here and one of the things we want is to break our opponent’s posture and look to control him, so he can’t posture up and hit us.”

The first thing that one needed to do was to sweep an arm inside and perform a knee pull. This dragged Jones close to Ryan, and as soon as he lost his posture, Ryan grabbed ‘Bones’s wrist. Taking control of the wrist prevented Jones from moving freely, and the only way he could move was up and away. But that was limited, as well, with Ryan controlling his other shoulder. It further prevented him from getting any damage from ground-and-pound. 

And then, it was all a piece of cake. All that Ryan needed to do was take Jones’ hands out of the equation and bring his legs to the front. This made it easier for the BJJ GOAT to put a clamp on his partner’s neck, and take him for a submission via triangle choke. Ryan narrated the move, “Now when he tries to pressure forward towards me or pull back out and away from me, it’s going to be increasingly difficult. And now from here we can just take our foot and throw it right over and start moving into situation where we’re going into triangle.”

This trick showcased a really neat way of getting out of troubling gound-and-pounds without much damage. And if things went right, one might even get a win by submission via triangle choke. Despite the immersive training sessions, Jon Jones felt that it was nothing short of humbling. 

Jon Jones reveals his insights on training together with Gordon Ryan and Gable Steveson

Before stepping back into the MMA cage at Madison Square Garden, Jones took the time to train with Ryan and the famed wrestler, Gable Steveson. While the HW champ has dominated the Octagon with his impressive skillsets, he was unable to dominate Ryan and the 2020 Summer Olympic gold medalist in the wrestling realm. Taking to X, Jones wrote, “I feel every bit of 37 hanging out with these two. It’s humbling, but I’m grateful.” 

But there was another instance when Jones had a light sparring with Steveson. Following a failed takedown attempt, instincts kicked in for Jones and he almost connected a flying knee to the wrestling coach’s face. Thankfully, he controlled himself, and no one got hurt. Jones quickly apologized to Steveson the duo continued their training like nothing ever happened.

Nevertheless, with the new move in mind, the UFC heavyweight champion would surely try to deploy it in his fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. But will it be enough to defeat someone like ‘The Silencer’? Well, that’s something that only time can tell. After all, Jones does have the power to knock people out in one go.

What are your thoughts on the move that Ryan showcased? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.