Nicky Ryan back in action: Nicky Ryan will take on the very formidable Geo Martinez at Kasai Grappling Championships in NYC on April 14 in a super fight put together by the Ryan brothers and and the @kasaigrappling team in what should be a fascinating match. Mr Martinez is a multi time EBI champion and ADCC medalist. He has even defeated a senior member of the squad and gone the distance in a tight loss to another, so clearly his submission defense is of the very highest caliber. This will definitely be the toughest challenge of the sixteen year old Mr Ryan's career. Ordinarily I am not in favor of teenagers taking on Adult champions, but Mr Ryan showed he could qualify and compete at world championship level, so I will make an exception in cases like this. Obviously there is going to be a significant strength and physical maturity gap here, eddie cummings and Jonathan Calestine both told me that Mr Martinez was among the strongest lightweights they ever encountered and could maintain that strength for long periods. Mr Ryan will have to use all his rapidly developing skills to take on such a skilled and tough opponent. This entire Kasai event is fascinating, with several great super fights and a main tournament that should create some fantastic match ups – more on this soon! Hats off to Kasai for creating a great show in the Empire State and giving these two fine athletes a venue to showcase their skills.
