Gordon Ryan, 24, has signed a contract with Asian MMA promotion ONE Championship, according to the event's founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. 

BREAKING NEWS: Gordon Ryan has signed with ONE Championship for both mixed martial arts and submission grappling!

— Chatri Sityodtong (@yodchatri) March 22, 2021

The three-time ADCC gold medalist is the pound-for-pound #1 no-gi grappler in the world and has previously spoken of his desire to fight MMA. He most recently won titles at the 2019 ADCC World Championships in the -99kg and absolute division, and took gold at -88kg in 2017. 

New Jersey-born Gordon Ryan now lives and trains in Puerto Rico alongside his Danaher Death Squad teammates. He walks around at 215lb, although as yet no details have emerged about Ryan's MMA debut or in which division he would fight. 

The Singapore-based promotion is home to Gordon's teammates and mentors Garry Tonon and Tom DeBlass. Fellow ADCC champ Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida is also signed to ONE Championship and expected to make his debut soon. 

Gordon Ryan competes on FloGrappling WNO: Gordon Ryan vs Vagner Rocha this Friday, March 26. Watch it live on FloGrappling. 

Update: Gordon has posted that the contract is only for MMA "if he chooses". 

"I just signed a huge deal with ONE Championship. The matches will be grappling matches, with MMA on the table if I choose to go that route. Right now, my main focus is ADCC 2022, but if I choose to fight MMA eventually, my new home at ONE will be where I debut."

Ryan also said that he intends to rebrand himself as a "fence wrestler", indicating a desire to showcase new techniques offered by grappling in a cage instead of a mat. 

"I am very excited to see my fans in other parts of the world, but also to rebrand myself as one of the best fence wrestlers of all time. I’ve managed to outpace the competition in the open, so wrestling the fence will present new challenges for me, which is very exciting."