The Ultimate Dark Horse: Can Kyle Boehm Defeat Gordon Ryan?
The Ultimate Dark Horse: Can Kyle Boehm Defeat Gordon Ryan?
Let’s cut right to the chase – Kyle Boehm is the heavy underdog heading into his main event match with Gordon Ryan at Who’s Number One on June 5.
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Let’s cut right to the chase – Kyle Boehm is the heavy underdog heading into his main event match with Gordon Ryan at Who’s Number One on June 5.
The 10th Panet black belt made waves back in November after a dominant win at the BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix, a tournament where he claimed gold after besting Lucas ‘Hulk' Barbosa, Jason Rau, and Aaron 'Tex' Johnson. He concluded his stunning win by calling out Gordon Ryan when handed the mic.
Watch Who's Number One: Gordon Ryan vs Kyle Boehm June 5 On FloGrappling
The moment certainly captured Gordon’s attention – at least briefly – as the ADCC champ was quick to dismiss Boehm as a nobody, not worthy of the challenge.
The beef simmered until early February; Boehm may have struck a chord after submitting Joao Gabriel Rocha at KASAI Pro 7 – a feat that Gordon was unable to perform just one year earlier. Again, he called out Gordon, , and this time, his challenge was accepted.
So what can Kyle do to pull off the upset and beat one of the most dominant jiu-jitsu athletes of our time? Make the jump to find out.
Will No Time Limit Be The Decisive Factor?
No time limit certainly changes the dynamic of this match.
A counter fighter like Boehm may struggle as there is little incentive for Gordon to push the pace until he's absolutely ready – and the Danaher black belt is notoriously tactical and will not break from his gameplan.
Boehm has never been submitted as a black belt, and seeing as that’s the only criteria for a win, that has to be a huge boost of confidence for the 10th Planet rep. Indeed, it was Boehm himself who cited defense as the cornerstone to his potential path to victory:
"I think [Gordon is] going to go for open guard passing and look for some kind of dynamic pinning situation and try to isolate a limb, get a triangle or go to the back. My keys to victory are in defense, I need to be cast-iron in my defense from everywhere. I need to be heavy on him, wear him down and wait for my opening." – Kyle Boehm
Kyle's defensive stats are also bolstered by his impressive EBI overtime skills – despite giving up his back or the 'spiderweb' position, Boehm was able to defeat every single one of his opponents in the shootout style format.
By pushing Gordon – or at the very least surviving – until the match hits deep waters, Kyle may be able to expose an opening where Gordon wouldn't typically slip up.
WATCH: Get To Know Kyle Boehm – An Interview
Kyle Boehm By... Heel Hook?
And while it may remain true that a strong defense sets up good offense, Kyle WILL need to submit Gordon to get the win at Who's Number One – an accomplishment that only Felipe Pena has managed to achieve, and that was nearly four years ago.
Boehm seems to think his best bet may like with lower limb attacks.
"I don’t anticipate [Gordon will ] play legs, because I don’t think it would be in his favor – not to say he couldn’t catch me with a leglock – but I don’t think that would be the best strategy for him."
Kyle has finished 67% of his matches at the black belt level by outside heel hook.
It's hard to imagine a universe where Gordon Ryan is heel hooked, but there's no denying Boehm has incredible breaking power – Dan Borovic, Joao Gabriel Rocha, BB Monster, and Jordan Lutzky have fallen victim to the powerful lock.
The jiu-jitsu world would collectively lose their minds if Gordon was heel hooked by Boehm, but it''s clearly something the 10th planet representative feels could be utilized in his favor.
WATCH: Kyle Boehm vs Joao Gabriel Rocha
Final Notes
Surprise; there are no earth-shattering proposals found above for how Kyle Boehm will achieve the upset victory over one of the greatest of all-time. Gordon doesn't have any particular weaknesses to note (except facing Felipe Pena) so it really comes down to conditioning, and surviving the first 15 minutes.
We hope Boehm can drag things into deep water so we can learn more about how 'pure grappling' and the no-time format changes the game and results.