KEY POINTS

  • Decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Andre Galvao has joined ONE Championship
  • An incident between him and Gordon Ryan made its rounds on social media last February
  • Galvao last fought under MMA rules in 2010 but remained active on the submission grappling scene

ONE Championship has announced that the outfit is bringing in decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Andre Galvao.

Chatri Sityodtong, the CEO of the Singapore-based promotion, announced the signing via a Facebook post and has sent fans into a frenzy after asking who he should face in his debut.

The majority of them went on to name fellow grappling wizard Gordon Ryan thanks to their shared history.

In February of this year, the pair were caught on video having a scuffle after Galvao said some words that got the American wrestler heated enough to slap the Brazilian’s face.

The seeds for an official matchup between the two fighters were planted in late March after Ryan himself signed with ONE Championship.

His debut was set to be against multi-time ONE lightweight champion Shinya Aoki this past August, but Ryan announced in May that he was calling a temporary stop to his grappling career due to the worsening of his long-term gastroparesis condition.

The arrival of his fierce rival to ONE Championship has fans hoping that his condition gets better soon as they wish to see the bad blood between him and Galvao get settled in the cage.

Until that comes to fruition though, fans of the organization should get to know the Brazilian first.

Known primarily for his ventures in grappling, Galvao also has had experience fighting under mixed martial arts rules.

Amassing a record of five wins and two losses, he has fought the against likes of Jorge Patino and a young Tyron Woodley back in 2010 with Strikeforce.

He won three of his fights by submission, all of them being armbars, but his striking leaves a lot to be desired as it lacks the polish to compete with some of the best that ONE Championship has to offer.

In his fight with Woodley, he got dropped after eating a straight right and was subsequently wobbled after telegraphing a double leg takedown, leading into the knockout sequence.

A potential fight between him and Ryan would be an exciting watch for those who enjoy the technicalities of the ground game.

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