Despite being undoubtedly the biggest money maker in professional BJJ, A Roger Gracie v Gordon Ryan superfight is never going to happen. This isn’t just speculation either as several of the sport’s biggest promoters have now publicly revealed that they have tried to make this fight happen and have resigned to the fact that Roger’s retirement is now permanent. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the opponent is the biggest man in BJJ currently or how much money is being offered, Roger Gracie simply does not want to compete anymore.

The question was asked on the BJJ Fanatics Facebook Group and the first promoter to respond was none other than the main man of Third Coast Grappling, Ryan McGuire. McGuire has worked with Gordon Ryan extensively and explained that he offered more money than he has to any other athlete to try and tempt Roger to take the match, but he stood firm on his retirement.

The second promoter to weigh in on the topic was the man in charge of ADCC 2019 and the man who was recently announced as the first man ever to host ADCC twice, Mo Jassim. Jassim confirmed that he too had tried to make the Roger Gracie v Gordon Ryan match come to fruition but was also turned down by Roger. He was a little more forthcoming with the details and explained that he offered around $40,000 for Roger to take the fight back in 2017 at the ADCC Trials.

In fairness, Roger Gracie will always remain one of the greatest BJJ competitors of all time and the first dominant force in competition. Since 2010 Roger has competed in BJJ only three times, most recently back in 2017 in a rematch against Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida that can be watched here. Realistically, he has absolutely nothing left to prove and can stay retired safe in the knowledge that his title as the greatest of all time is pretty safe for the foreseeable future.