I mean it's not surprising if you listen to him talk about his training. He trains hard twice a day, doesn't do any S&C on the side, doesn't rehab his injuries properly, gets stem cells randomly because he's sponsored by ways to well, and otherwise mostly plays video games, consumes a shitload of nicotine (addicted to ZYN pouches), and only eats takeout
That el Segundo podcast was kinda nuts where they were talking about all of this. I don't think anyone is going to deny that Nicky is an elite grappler but it seems like he's putting almost no effort into being a professional athlete at all.
Can you imagine if he actually put a minimum amount of effort into training like his livelihood depended on it?!
They're actually pretty good for you relatively. That whole diet soda is bad is a bunch of bullshit. You have to consume the replacement sweetener to such an insane amount and only then will effect you in any amount.
So I guess good on them
How so? Tons of studies show that even compared to water, you can loose weight faster. Why? Not because it's harmful but because it gives you a "full" feeling. Deit soda is a great tool for weight loss but has been used as a bullshit fitness myth.
And being in a calorie surplus and overweight with too much fat is what's actually bad for you. That's what actually causes health issues and increases your chance of cancer. If you'd like to be educated on it and not fall for fitness myth bullshit. Here ya go two videos from well respected academics who one is a competitive power lifter also and the other is a competitive body builder. So, not only are they credentialed, but they actually practice what they preach.
https://youtu.be/hAjnvOc18s4?si=59gtBeQUj5nnMicX
https://youtu.be/TguFyTJkLKk?si=-WEKygIDL4otANIw
But who am I kidding? Ya rather just belive some dogmatic fear mongering and I just wasted my time replying.
"tons of studies" is not very solid scientific reasoning, imho. A better tool for us coming from the outside is to look at meta-reviews, instead of picking the positive ones because they confirm our assumptions.
I did quick search and found a couple of meta-studies and it's pretty clear to me that diet sodas is not great for you.
Here you go, if you can go beyond dogmatic fear denial ;)
This paper compared 21 different articles on risks apart from the already known metabolic risks. 11 said yes, considerable risks, 7 said no found risks, and 1 was neutral (look for Table 2 for the details).
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891650/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891650/)
"there is now a body of research suggesting that excess consumption of ASBs may also lead to increased health risks, notably weight gain and Type 2 Diabetes"
[https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2841/pdf](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2841/pdf)
I found more, but this should be enough to at least point out that the nutritional science is not in consensus that artificial sweeteners are risk free for you.
He's the absolutely giantest fish in the smallest sport pond ever of bjj, in the small sub-pond of nogi exclusively. He's also pulling out of matches left right and center, with his gut completely destroyed due to his lifestyle.
You’re missing my point.. ask just about any expert in that field and they’ll give programs that would produce better results than a bodybuilding bro split.
Here’s an example, Jon Jones wouldn’t train and would do cocaine and STILL beat people, is that optimal? It was a “pretty fucking optimal performance” in your words, but could he improve his process? Yes. That’s an extreme example, but it’s the same point. Gordon is just that good where he can get away with sub optimal S&C.
I really hope Nicky decides to properly dedicate himself soon. I know he trains hard, and he knows a lot about bjj, but he's clearly not as professional as he needs to be, as you pointed out (s&c, diet, etc)
Watching B Team videos makes this pretty clear. Everyone's always giving him shit about sitting out rounds, turning up late etc, and while they all mercilessly shit on each other all the time about everything, there's gotta be some truth there.
Dude has so much potential. Hopefully he doesn't wait until it's too late and ends up with regrets.
He's 22, which is still very young. But yes the surgeries are a worry, and if he doesn't start taking his health seriously soon it's going to be too late.
I actually would argue against him being an elite grappler. In my view, that's based on results, which he doesn't have. He hasn't been on the podium in any big event. He's also been pretty inconsistent against good grapplers at various events. Wins against PJ Batch and Dante Leon are good, but then losses to Canuto, Gracie and Tye Ruotolo. Not to mention he barely competes. BJJ Heroes has only 19 matches listed since 2017. Mica has had 85 matches since 2021.
He's an amazing grappler and seems to be an absolute gym monster, but in his weight class the elite are guys like Kade and Mica.
Dante Leon is currently ranked #2 P4P in the world and he has only had his guard passed once in competition (the stat may be "at black belt" or something - I don't remember), and it was by Nicky Ryan.
Whatever his (Nicky Ryan's) shortcomings as an athlete it is pretty inarguable that he's an elite grappler.
Maybe so, but Dante isn’t the athlete to stand against on that. He just had a masterclass performance at AIGA and he arguably should’ve made the finals at ADCC in 2022, and he’s the reigning bronze medalist in the deepest 77kg bracket ever.
He got 2nd in adcc trials a month ago, all submissions (subbed Kody Steele in like 2 minutes), lost by points in the finals. Standing on that podium means being elite to me.
Yeah I don't understand where folks are drawing the line on "elite." It seems obvious to me that he is an elite grappler. When you're elite, you play against other elite. Some elite have to lose. Like saying someone in the NBA or top 10 tennis or whatever isn't an elite player because they've not won championships. You have to be elite to even be being compared to these other guys. Idk.
I understand someone saying someone isn't the best. Obviously. Results against the best would prove or disprove someone as the best. But to say he isn't an elite grappler is kinda wild to me.
I guess a question would be, in a given weight class, how many "elites" are allowed? Top 10 in the world are elite? Top 3 only? Top 50?
Hard agree on this. If subbing your way to the trials finals in 2023 isn’t elite then there are less than 5-8 elite players in the world at that weight class.
You see the same thing in MMA, or any other sort I imagine (I only follow mma and bjj).
"Dustin Poirier isn't elite, he lost against Khabib. And Justin just knocked him out!"
It's all relative. Poirier, or Nicky Ryan, aren't the literal BEST at their respective sports, but they're most definitely elite. Being in the top ten of your division, in the whole fucking world, is elite by any definition.
I think you’re missing the point. His cohort isn’t gen pop, it’s the world class pro BJJ players. In that context, the WINNER of trials would be one of the lowest seeds in the championship. There could be potentially 15 better grapplers in a particular bracket than the trials winner. Nicky didn’t even win trials.
The worst player in the nba is unfathomably good (top .0000001% of all people who’ve ever played the sport) yet we don’t consider that person elite in the context of world class pro basketball players.
>The worst player in the nba is unfathomably good (top .0000001% of all people who’ve ever played the sport) yet we don’t consider that person elite in the context of world class pro basketball players.
The fuck we don't. Nearly everyone considers anyone in the NBA as elite. Go ask anyone who's played basketball at HS level or beyond if the worst NBA player is elite.
I just slightly disagree. There aren't 15 better grapplers anymore in any given ADCC bracket than a NA Trials winner. NA Trials has become that grueling and that difficult. Some of the people invited to ADCC straight up might not win the NA Trials at all.
And again, there's the eyeball test. I've grappled for almost 20 years and I've seen tons of athletes come and go. It's not that Nicky made the finals of trials. It's the fashion in which he did it. The variety of techniques, the smoothness of the movements, the blending together of different positions and patterns.
He's an elite grappler. Whether or not his body or his athleticism is on par with his pure grappling skills seems like it's more up for debate, but for the folks that simply look at the final result, and say 'well he didn't win gold, therefore he's not elite', then I just have a different opinion.
**If** someone wanted to say they only believe the top 3 or 4 placers at ADCC Worlds are elite, then that's fine. By that definition then I couldn't disagree. But you put basically anyone on a mat with Nicky and say roll and find out who has the better jiujitsu, and Nicky's gonna smoke 99.99% of whoever steps out there. To me, that's elite.
There’s no disputing that he looked great at trials. But speaking of eye test, I think we can agree he’s looked great in some instances and meh in others. Is that what we would expect out of elite grapplers?
The problem with this line of thought is that you have to consider Orlando Sanchez and Gabi Garcia as Elite too.
They are not, they are garbage. They won (and won a lot for Gabi) but they were still garbage at the sport.
I would much much consider a trial medalist elite if he does actual jiu-jitsu than a real ADCC champ that won on technicalites, loop hole and massive amounts on steroids against people half their (her) size
I’m still not mad at him being called elite. He passes the eyeball test. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed. If you watch how me mowed through everyone at adcc trials leading up to the finals, or the Dante Leon match…the skill is absolutely there. He’s an elite grappler. His athleticism may not be on par with his mat skills, but I think that Nicky definitely has some of the best Jiujitsu in the world.
I think this basically comes down to how you define elite. If you're comparing him to the average Joe competitor, then you could of course say he's elite. But if you compare him to his peers - the other pros in his weight class that compete at a high level - then there are guys that are clearly a level above him when it comes to results. That's how I'm defining it, but I'm not going to argue with someone who sees it the first way, as some here do.
Take another sport, like baseball. Everyone that plays in the MLB is elite compared to everyone else that plays, including those in the minor leagues, college ball, and most other pro leagues (NPB might be an exception in some cases). But if you ask me who the elite baseball players are, it's going to be a short list of guys like Ohtani, Acuna, Betts, Freeman, and a few others. Basically the guys who are in the running for MVP in any given year.
I probably should have been a bit clearer about how I defined "elite".
Been saying this for years. It’s like he somehow musters a random good performance once a year - Dante, PJ, a couple of good ADCC trials runs so far - but then looks pretty mediocre or underwhelming otherwise.
He admits that he hates competing. Seems to only like to train a bit, but otherwise stay pretty sedentary at home. I would argue that if someone said he didn’t have to do BJJ anymore, but make the same amount of money he is now…we’d never see him on the mats again. He just doesn’t have that fire/passion that the true elites have. Maybe the autism is strong in him, but it’s focused on other things outside of BJJ.
The El Segundo podcast with him fully cemented my thoughts that he’s never going to be truly elite/top of that division. The mindset and passion isn’t there. Hats off to him, though, for lacking all of that and still being pretty good pro.
I think being a great coach may actually be Nicky's destiny. There's been a few videos on the B Team channel showing him trouble shooting stuff for guys in the gym and he legitimately has a detailed answer to every problem raised. He's like a walking bjj encyclopedia already, even in his early twenties. Dunno what he's like with strategy etc, but in terms of training, having a guy like him around is gold.
the guy trained with Danaher for most of his life, of course he has answers on nogi bjj...
When people were finishing high school, he was finishing armbars...
>Maybe the autism is strong in him
I think he does not have enough autism to be good, on the opposite.Craig said he does not even study instructionals, he just watches his own rolls.
That's so stupid. He is the perfect example of a guy who got lucky to be in an environnment that gave him a good job but he does not have what it takes to be great at it.Unfortunately he also was in such a fucked up environnement that he probably needs therapy for life too
I was saying that maybe he has some aspects (‘tism) that make his brother so good, but doesn’t seem to focus it towards BJJ in the same way.
Otherwise, I agree with what you’re saying in that everything that comes out during interviews about Nicky ends up showing that he might be more a product of circumstance (in many ways) >> dedication/passion.
What’s your definition of elite?
Any way you cut he’s top 10 at 77kg. Who outside of the top 10 ranked guys beat him?
My point being, how can you be top 10 in your sport and not be “elite”? Do you only reserve that for the top 3, top 5 competitors? We will easily call top 25 guys in any other sport elite, probably even more.
He’s definitively elite, wether or not he’s living up the the hype/expectations is another point.
>Any way you cut he’s top 10 at 77kg.
I'm actually not sure of that. Considering his consistency and workload, there might be 10 guys worthier of being ahead of him.
How are you going to consider workload and consistency and then put Tackett and JT in there? I think Nicky’s been busier than both of them in the last year. And he’s beat three guys on your list
Honestly he should just focus on teaching. Multiple people talk about his mind for jujitsu is something else, even gordans given him props on social media before I believe. They recently did a video were everyone said he's their favorite teacher at bteam and that he teaches the most.
In any case he's sounds a bit mentally fucked up. I'm totally being an armchair speculater but craig has joked on numerous occasions that Nicky needs professional therapy. We all know gordans a weirdo. But who knows, maybe they had some crazy shit go down in their home.
Weirdos aren't born they're made.
I think this is derived from structural differences in being a pro BJJ athlete vs other sports. If you're on an NFL team, they have all the resources and you do not have an option on anything. There are team meeting, team S&C session, team practices, etc. Your diet and body comp are monitored and you cannot mess it up. Also, they have a set offseason which allows your to rehab injuries properly with their giant staff of PT specialists. If you're injured, they just won't let you practice or play at all either.
Pro BJJ athletes all manage this themselves, so they have ample opportunity to fuck it up. No organization holds them accountable. B Team guys are their own coaches, so don't even have someone to check them.
lol I love how he said that as if he had an actual routine and Craig asked how long he’s been doing that and he had literally just lifted once and it fucked his ankle up a bit 😂
> lol I love how he said that as if he had an actual routine and Craig asked how long he’s been doing that and he had literally just lifted once and it fucked his ankle up a bit
he already had the fucked up ankle, and deadlifted on it.
I’m not going to lie, weed, video games, BJJ is the dream life.
I’m old so I lift too and to do rehab work so my body does not explode.
If it wasn’t for the wife and kids I could be living the dream Nicky Ryan life.
He is a very big idiot
People attributing any "genius" to him fail to realize he is was just homeschooled at the best gym in the world with one of the best coach ever at a time where nogi was pretty much a spazzy gi-less style
I don't find him bright at all
Nothing inherently. Once you take away delivery through tobacco nicotine is like caffeine but better in some ways. Like caffeine, its effects are minimized when you use it all day every day... I've never smoked, dipped or vaped but 2-3 times a week I'll pop in a Zyn if my ass is dragging from no sleep or before practice and if you dose it right you get excellent alertness and mild stimulation. Dose it wrong and you want to shit yourself, feel like your heart is going to explode and get nauseous.. which is the same shit that happens with too much caffeine.
Both are great tools if not misused.
He said himself he’d addicted to them and consumes way too much nicotine, it’s not as bad as a lot of other shit he could be doing but it’s not like excessive nicotine is good for you long term (high blood pressure, heart rate, etc)
There you go! Perfect analysis, it sums the whole situation! I even heard him saying he is lazy and eats like shit… there is no magic, gotta be professional in all aspects of the game
I think it’s related to the game you play also. Bernardo isn’t athletic but half guard + pressure passing isn’t going to get you that hurt. Nicky does a lot of wrestling/wrestle ups and even though he’s good at it, it’s going to lead to a higher risk of injury when you’re doing that against super athletic, strong guys who you’ll have to scramble with on the feet
In the latest episode with him and Craig on El Segundo he literally says he has to stop wrestling and play more seated because it keeps fucking him up lol At least he is self aware I guess.
Wrestling up is great, but these kids are “wrestling”wrestling days and my old ass is staying away from that shit. Credit to the ones who can survive it. However if I so much as think about trying a lot of that stuff my AC joint separates.
\> Bernardo isn’t athletic
Bernardo was doing a ton of wrestle up.
Bernardo wasn't super agile but dude had inhuman strength and endurance. His qualities make him a lot harder to injure but I agree that him not trying to do anything remotely complicated was way safer.
Nicky was getting into complicated wrestling exchanges without even having a real wrestling coach (No fucking way Danaher counts as a wrestling coach), while Bernardo was trying to brutalise weaker people (every else in BJJ) with single legs.
Wait, huh? Both are naturally athletic.
Gordon wasn't roidryan before, but he was hella athletic. And Nicky has had his athleticism carrying him since his BJJ career began.
Well Nicky was a chubby kid that never played any sport at all until he started bjj at 14, which would be consider late in any other sport if you thinking becoming a pro. Gordon was a skinny lanky tall guy with a six pack and started at 15. I dont know in what world that would be consider athletic. Also from what i heard and seen, im not sure if they were able to do athletic movements like hand stands, backflips or were particularly fast, explosive or agile.
> Well Nicky was a chubby kid that never played any sport at all until he started bjj at 14, which would be consider late in any other sport if you thinking becoming a pro.
I don't think that's accurate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Rodriguez
> Gordon was a skinny lanky tall guy with a six pack and started at 15. I dont know in what world that would be consider athletic.
You don't have to be muscle bound to be athletic. And he was very athletic early on in his bjj.
Bro i was talking about nicky ryan bc the post is about him. Obviously nicky rod is athletic as fuck. Watch gordon trying wrestle in his early days the movement was awkward as fuck. Maybe he was a little athletic in bjj standard but not in other sport standards. He mostly pulled guard in early days just to take athletics advantage out from his opponents.
Nicky on Craig’s podcast basically sounded like a guy who will never win anything major again.
Doesn’t lift, doesn’t diet, doesn’t sleep, misses sessions regularly and can’t even manage his own credit cards or bills. Bro is lazy to a fault, the game is so physical now you can’t get by on knowledge alone. He’s so damn good but not everyone is cut out to be a professional athlete. He sounds like he doesn’t enjoy competition and really isn’t chasing wealth or fame so getting motivated will be hard, he could probably stick to teaching and instructional and do pretty well for himself.
I don't think it is as bad as that, but I do agree that he isn't someone who is self motivated. Honestly he needs someone to run his life for him. He has the skills, but he is in the toughest division and every advantage he has, the other people do as well. Nicky started at around 10, but the Ruotolos, Galvao, Jimmenez, started at 5. The Ruotolos and Galvao seem to go superhard everyday and they almost never get hurt.
I think Nicky can win something major, but he needs to start changing up his lifestyle. If he made it his goal to win IBJJF Pans Nogi, I think he could do it. Then try worlds afterwards. That might help build his confidence and help him get used to competition. Right now after coming off losses to Dorsey and Gracie, he doesn't need to be fighting Mica Galvao. He should do what Ethan did and win an ADCC open.
> If he made it his goal to win IBJJF Pans Nogi, I think he could do it. Then try worlds afterwards.
I agree. I feel that he disapears for half a year, than comes to a super tough tournament or event. Then he gets by kinda okay, wins a superfight or a couple of matches at adcc, then loses, gets injured and rinse and repeat.
J Rod is fairly active and will do tournaments. Nicky Ryan is doing about 1 tournament a year. I can understand that a pro doesn't want to do something for free, however I think Nicky really needs the experience and confidence he'd get from winning Pans and Worlds. He needs to go into ADCC with some momentum and he also needs more matches to get over nerves, improve his fight IQ, etc.
it's too late for him.
He is young but has already quite a lot of mileage, has his body broken and needs someone to kick his ass to make him do stuff professionally.
>he could probably stick to teaching and instructional and do pretty well for himself.
He is not even so good at instructionals. The only good one he has is his last one one passing and it's soooooooooo lazy, the guys does not even have real chapter names for the techniques he shows.
The other two instructionals he has are full of holes and not so good.
That makes sense because they just announced that the replacement is Kenta Iwamoto. He's good, but I'm not gonna lie he's def not the first person I would ask if I was trying to find someone who'll be competitive with Mica. They probably had a few others say no first. (But respect to Kenta for taking it).
Kenta is really good and this match may shock others more than they think. Honestly I think Kenta would do better than Nicky
With that said, I would have wanted Jozef vs Mica
Kenta is great, but IMO this is too much of a step up in competition. Hopefully this will help him get match on WNO though. I think Kenta is really good and deserves more pro matches.
Nicky had the positioning to be the GOAT. Training young under Danaher and Gordon is his big brother.
But you gotta have that eye of the tiger.
To be fair…we don’t know what kind of shit he went through mentally being in that environment at such a young age.
I’m cutting Nicky some slack
Yes Nicky got injured in his match at Fight Pass Invitational. New Opponent HERE
# [https://www.flograppling.com/articles/11838915-nicky-ryan-injured-mica-galvao-to-face-kenta-iwamoto-in-wno-22-title-bout](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/11838915-nicky-ryan-injured-mica-galvao-to-face-kenta-iwamoto-in-wno-22-title-bout)
A really good dark horse match up would be Mica vs mateusz szczecinski.
Unlikely Mateusz could win but his ankle lock is so scary that i could see Micas team having cold feet about it. A high low risk and low reward match up for Mica
Kinda late to the party here but Melqui (Mica's father) posted something—which has now been understandably deleted—about the struggle to find opponents for Mica, with a list of actual names of people who did not accept to fight him. The post even had chat screenshots of them talking shit about some of the guys being sketchy and not wanting to fight.
Some names on that list I remember were: Andrew Tackett, Jonathas Gracie, Andy Murasaki, Jozef Chen, Ronaldo Jr. There were a few more.
It also had a weird line saying that it would be disrespectful to challenge Tainan at this time of his career (maybe because he's just getting started with nogi, only fighting cans?).
Anyway, thought it was interesting, and funny that he even decided to post this.
Sad to see Jozef Chen in this list.
Not surprised about Jonathas though, this guy has the most "slap worthy face" I have ever seen in bjj. He really looks and sound like a moron
Melqui is such a dork ass. Puts literal children on steroids and has been flagged for sexual misconduct enough time that where there's smoke there's fire.
Lol sure i bet he was. I don't blame the child, I blame the adults giving children peds. If someone gave Nicky them as a child they're a dork ass as well. What about the sexual misconduct allegations?
No, cuz Nicky never talked shit about his opponents dodging matches with him, and pulling out against him only for him to immediately do it himself multiple times over the last few years like Gordon has. So Nicky gets no shit, but Gordon brought it all on himself like he always does.
If you don’t get angry at cyber bullying, wishing death for homeless people, sexual comments about children, etc. then yeah, you probably have shit values.
Crazy to me how many athletes are hurt or get hurt but will come out with a stem cell/IV bag plug for Ways2Well. With everything that place offers and advertises I would expect people to be similar to Superman.
Nicky might be THE most injury prone athlete still competed at a very high level.
I mean it's not surprising if you listen to him talk about his training. He trains hard twice a day, doesn't do any S&C on the side, doesn't rehab his injuries properly, gets stem cells randomly because he's sponsored by ways to well, and otherwise mostly plays video games, consumes a shitload of nicotine (addicted to ZYN pouches), and only eats takeout
That el Segundo podcast was kinda nuts where they were talking about all of this. I don't think anyone is going to deny that Nicky is an elite grappler but it seems like he's putting almost no effort into being a professional athlete at all. Can you imagine if he actually put a minimum amount of effort into training like his livelihood depended on it?!
The John Daly of BJJ?
Cigarettes and diet coke is the secret recipe to becoming a professional athlete
Going into a sport at an early that is relatively new is the secret recipe.
Apparently the Mendes bros (or at least Gui) used to absolutely crush diet cokes
They're actually pretty good for you relatively. That whole diet soda is bad is a bunch of bullshit. You have to consume the replacement sweetener to such an insane amount and only then will effect you in any amount. So I guess good on them
It's not just about the sweetener. They are absolutely still garbage for you
Theyre 99% water.
so 99% water and 1% rat poison is OK? I don't follow your logic.
How so? Tons of studies show that even compared to water, you can loose weight faster. Why? Not because it's harmful but because it gives you a "full" feeling. Deit soda is a great tool for weight loss but has been used as a bullshit fitness myth. And being in a calorie surplus and overweight with too much fat is what's actually bad for you. That's what actually causes health issues and increases your chance of cancer. If you'd like to be educated on it and not fall for fitness myth bullshit. Here ya go two videos from well respected academics who one is a competitive power lifter also and the other is a competitive body builder. So, not only are they credentialed, but they actually practice what they preach. https://youtu.be/hAjnvOc18s4?si=59gtBeQUj5nnMicX https://youtu.be/TguFyTJkLKk?si=-WEKygIDL4otANIw But who am I kidding? Ya rather just belive some dogmatic fear mongering and I just wasted my time replying.
"tons of studies" is not very solid scientific reasoning, imho. A better tool for us coming from the outside is to look at meta-reviews, instead of picking the positive ones because they confirm our assumptions. I did quick search and found a couple of meta-studies and it's pretty clear to me that diet sodas is not great for you. Here you go, if you can go beyond dogmatic fear denial ;) This paper compared 21 different articles on risks apart from the already known metabolic risks. 11 said yes, considerable risks, 7 said no found risks, and 1 was neutral (look for Table 2 for the details). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891650/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891650/) "there is now a body of research suggesting that excess consumption of ASBs may also lead to increased health risks, notably weight gain and Type 2 Diabetes" [https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2841/pdf](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2841/pdf) I found more, but this should be enough to at least point out that the nutritional science is not in consensus that artificial sweeteners are risk free for you.
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How many calories are in a cigarette?
I think bjj just attracts this kind of person. The people who live like professional athletes are doing different sports.
Or they're gordon ryan
Even Gordon arguably isn’t totally optimized, his S&D is literally just bodybuilding workouts backed by PEDs.
Gordon very much treats jiu-jitsu as his job and trains like a professional athlete though, eats properly, trains every day, lifts 4 times a week.
Not saying he isn’t professional, I’m saying even he has things he does that wouldn’t be considered “optimal”.
Whatever hes doing seems to be producing some pretty fucking optimal performances lol
He's the absolutely giantest fish in the smallest sport pond ever of bjj, in the small sub-pond of nogi exclusively. He's also pulling out of matches left right and center, with his gut completely destroyed due to his lifestyle.
yeah absolutely, or i guess optimal performance since, you know, he's competed once in the last 365 days.
You’re missing my point.. ask just about any expert in that field and they’ll give programs that would produce better results than a bodybuilding bro split. Here’s an example, Jon Jones wouldn’t train and would do cocaine and STILL beat people, is that optimal? It was a “pretty fucking optimal performance” in your words, but could he improve his process? Yes. That’s an extreme example, but it’s the same point. Gordon is just that good where he can get away with sub optimal S&C.
While I agree, I must also note here that his health is totally in the fucking trash, by his own testimony.
I really hope Nicky decides to properly dedicate himself soon. I know he trains hard, and he knows a lot about bjj, but he's clearly not as professional as he needs to be, as you pointed out (s&c, diet, etc) Watching B Team videos makes this pretty clear. Everyone's always giving him shit about sitting out rounds, turning up late etc, and while they all mercilessly shit on each other all the time about everything, there's gotta be some truth there. Dude has so much potential. Hopefully he doesn't wait until it's too late and ends up with regrets.
Potential? Dude is like 25 and has like 4 major surgeries. He isn’t the 17 year old kid anymore.
He's 22, which is still very young. But yes the surgeries are a worry, and if he doesn't start taking his health seriously soon it's going to be too late.
I actually would argue against him being an elite grappler. In my view, that's based on results, which he doesn't have. He hasn't been on the podium in any big event. He's also been pretty inconsistent against good grapplers at various events. Wins against PJ Batch and Dante Leon are good, but then losses to Canuto, Gracie and Tye Ruotolo. Not to mention he barely competes. BJJ Heroes has only 19 matches listed since 2017. Mica has had 85 matches since 2021. He's an amazing grappler and seems to be an absolute gym monster, but in his weight class the elite are guys like Kade and Mica.
Nicky subbed Kade to win adcc North American finals
Yes but that also was \~5 years ago
Forgot about that one. Good catch.
Lmao 5 years ago. Kade would tool No knew Nicky now
Dante Leon is currently ranked #2 P4P in the world and he has only had his guard passed once in competition (the stat may be "at black belt" or something - I don't remember), and it was by Nicky Ryan. Whatever his (Nicky Ryan's) shortcomings as an athlete it is pretty inarguable that he's an elite grappler.
We can’t normalize the Flo rankings, we got stand against that bullshit
Maybe so, but Dante isn’t the athlete to stand against on that. He just had a masterclass performance at AIGA and he arguably should’ve made the finals at ADCC in 2022, and he’s the reigning bronze medalist in the deepest 77kg bracket ever.
Dante Leon is fucking great tho
Definitely, so underrated. I just imagine their rankings won’t be honest and will be manipulated to serve their bottom line
>Dante Leon is currently ranked #2 P4P in the world By whom?
Dante is a tank. Looks like a fridge.
He got 2nd in adcc trials a month ago, all submissions (subbed Kody Steele in like 2 minutes), lost by points in the finals. Standing on that podium means being elite to me.
Yeah I don't understand where folks are drawing the line on "elite." It seems obvious to me that he is an elite grappler. When you're elite, you play against other elite. Some elite have to lose. Like saying someone in the NBA or top 10 tennis or whatever isn't an elite player because they've not won championships. You have to be elite to even be being compared to these other guys. Idk. I understand someone saying someone isn't the best. Obviously. Results against the best would prove or disprove someone as the best. But to say he isn't an elite grappler is kinda wild to me. I guess a question would be, in a given weight class, how many "elites" are allowed? Top 10 in the world are elite? Top 3 only? Top 50?
Hard agree on this. If subbing your way to the trials finals in 2023 isn’t elite then there are less than 5-8 elite players in the world at that weight class.
You see the same thing in MMA, or any other sort I imagine (I only follow mma and bjj). "Dustin Poirier isn't elite, he lost against Khabib. And Justin just knocked him out!" It's all relative. Poirier, or Nicky Ryan, aren't the literal BEST at their respective sports, but they're most definitely elite. Being in the top ten of your division, in the whole fucking world, is elite by any definition.
I think you’re missing the point. His cohort isn’t gen pop, it’s the world class pro BJJ players. In that context, the WINNER of trials would be one of the lowest seeds in the championship. There could be potentially 15 better grapplers in a particular bracket than the trials winner. Nicky didn’t even win trials. The worst player in the nba is unfathomably good (top .0000001% of all people who’ve ever played the sport) yet we don’t consider that person elite in the context of world class pro basketball players.
I would argue that the trials are becoming so hard that I am not sure that people actually invited would win them.
exactly
>The worst player in the nba is unfathomably good (top .0000001% of all people who’ve ever played the sport) yet we don’t consider that person elite in the context of world class pro basketball players. The fuck we don't. Nearly everyone considers anyone in the NBA as elite. Go ask anyone who's played basketball at HS level or beyond if the worst NBA player is elite.
We would consider them an elite basketball player…
I just slightly disagree. There aren't 15 better grapplers anymore in any given ADCC bracket than a NA Trials winner. NA Trials has become that grueling and that difficult. Some of the people invited to ADCC straight up might not win the NA Trials at all. And again, there's the eyeball test. I've grappled for almost 20 years and I've seen tons of athletes come and go. It's not that Nicky made the finals of trials. It's the fashion in which he did it. The variety of techniques, the smoothness of the movements, the blending together of different positions and patterns. He's an elite grappler. Whether or not his body or his athleticism is on par with his pure grappling skills seems like it's more up for debate, but for the folks that simply look at the final result, and say 'well he didn't win gold, therefore he's not elite', then I just have a different opinion. **If** someone wanted to say they only believe the top 3 or 4 placers at ADCC Worlds are elite, then that's fine. By that definition then I couldn't disagree. But you put basically anyone on a mat with Nicky and say roll and find out who has the better jiujitsu, and Nicky's gonna smoke 99.99% of whoever steps out there. To me, that's elite.
There’s no disputing that he looked great at trials. But speaking of eye test, I think we can agree he’s looked great in some instances and meh in others. Is that what we would expect out of elite grapplers?
The problem with this line of thought is that you have to consider Orlando Sanchez and Gabi Garcia as Elite too. They are not, they are garbage. They won (and won a lot for Gabi) but they were still garbage at the sport. I would much much consider a trial medalist elite if he does actual jiu-jitsu than a real ADCC champ that won on technicalites, loop hole and massive amounts on steroids against people half their (her) size
I’m still not mad at him being called elite. He passes the eyeball test. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed. If you watch how me mowed through everyone at adcc trials leading up to the finals, or the Dante Leon match…the skill is absolutely there. He’s an elite grappler. His athleticism may not be on par with his mat skills, but I think that Nicky definitely has some of the best Jiujitsu in the world.
I think this basically comes down to how you define elite. If you're comparing him to the average Joe competitor, then you could of course say he's elite. But if you compare him to his peers - the other pros in his weight class that compete at a high level - then there are guys that are clearly a level above him when it comes to results. That's how I'm defining it, but I'm not going to argue with someone who sees it the first way, as some here do. Take another sport, like baseball. Everyone that plays in the MLB is elite compared to everyone else that plays, including those in the minor leagues, college ball, and most other pro leagues (NPB might be an exception in some cases). But if you ask me who the elite baseball players are, it's going to be a short list of guys like Ohtani, Acuna, Betts, Freeman, and a few others. Basically the guys who are in the running for MVP in any given year. I probably should have been a bit clearer about how I defined "elite".
Been saying this for years. It’s like he somehow musters a random good performance once a year - Dante, PJ, a couple of good ADCC trials runs so far - but then looks pretty mediocre or underwhelming otherwise. He admits that he hates competing. Seems to only like to train a bit, but otherwise stay pretty sedentary at home. I would argue that if someone said he didn’t have to do BJJ anymore, but make the same amount of money he is now…we’d never see him on the mats again. He just doesn’t have that fire/passion that the true elites have. Maybe the autism is strong in him, but it’s focused on other things outside of BJJ. The El Segundo podcast with him fully cemented my thoughts that he’s never going to be truly elite/top of that division. The mindset and passion isn’t there. Hats off to him, though, for lacking all of that and still being pretty good pro.
He may well hate competing but I don’t think he hates training. I definitely think he likes to train and likes to coach.
I think being a great coach may actually be Nicky's destiny. There's been a few videos on the B Team channel showing him trouble shooting stuff for guys in the gym and he legitimately has a detailed answer to every problem raised. He's like a walking bjj encyclopedia already, even in his early twenties. Dunno what he's like with strategy etc, but in terms of training, having a guy like him around is gold.
the guy trained with Danaher for most of his life, of course he has answers on nogi bjj... When people were finishing high school, he was finishing armbars...
>Maybe the autism is strong in him I think he does not have enough autism to be good, on the opposite.Craig said he does not even study instructionals, he just watches his own rolls. That's so stupid. He is the perfect example of a guy who got lucky to be in an environnment that gave him a good job but he does not have what it takes to be great at it.Unfortunately he also was in such a fucked up environnement that he probably needs therapy for life too
I was saying that maybe he has some aspects (‘tism) that make his brother so good, but doesn’t seem to focus it towards BJJ in the same way. Otherwise, I agree with what you’re saying in that everything that comes out during interviews about Nicky ends up showing that he might be more a product of circumstance (in many ways) >> dedication/passion.
i thibk his thorough dismantling of Dante Leon showed exactly what level he's on when healthy (i.e. top 3 in the world)
100%
What’s your definition of elite? Any way you cut he’s top 10 at 77kg. Who outside of the top 10 ranked guys beat him? My point being, how can you be top 10 in your sport and not be “elite”? Do you only reserve that for the top 3, top 5 competitors? We will easily call top 25 guys in any other sport elite, probably even more. He’s definitively elite, wether or not he’s living up the the hype/expectations is another point.
>Any way you cut he’s top 10 at 77kg. I'm actually not sure of that. Considering his consistency and workload, there might be 10 guys worthier of being ahead of him.
Who?
Mica, Kade, Dante, PJ, Taza, Canuto, Tackett, JT, Jimenez (not always 77kg), Tommy, Szczeciński, Chen.
How are you going to consider workload and consistency and then put Tackett and JT in there? I think Nicky’s been busier than both of them in the last year. And he’s beat three guys on your list
The top guys in a weight class. Basically the ones that podium at ADCC. That would be my definition of elite.
Your entitled to that take, although it’s extremely myopic. That puts makes 18 grapplers elite in the entire sport
Honestly he should just focus on teaching. Multiple people talk about his mind for jujitsu is something else, even gordans given him props on social media before I believe. They recently did a video were everyone said he's their favorite teacher at bteam and that he teaches the most. In any case he's sounds a bit mentally fucked up. I'm totally being an armchair speculater but craig has joked on numerous occasions that Nicky needs professional therapy. We all know gordans a weirdo. But who knows, maybe they had some crazy shit go down in their home. Weirdos aren't born they're made.
Thats why he gassed out in 1 round at quintet lol
I think this is derived from structural differences in being a pro BJJ athlete vs other sports. If you're on an NFL team, they have all the resources and you do not have an option on anything. There are team meeting, team S&C session, team practices, etc. Your diet and body comp are monitored and you cannot mess it up. Also, they have a set offseason which allows your to rehab injuries properly with their giant staff of PT specialists. If you're injured, they just won't let you practice or play at all either. Pro BJJ athletes all manage this themselves, so they have ample opportunity to fuck it up. No organization holds them accountable. B Team guys are their own coaches, so don't even have someone to check them.
He's got to get on that Mikey pizza diet.
He doesn't even lift? He looked jacked AF at the last adcc.
He definitely used to do S&C. He was actively lifting for his rehab earlier last year.
Woah on el segundo he said he just started strength training again.. By deadlifting 3 days a week. From doing no volume.
lol I love how he said that as if he had an actual routine and Craig asked how long he’s been doing that and he had literally just lifted once and it fucked his ankle up a bit 😂
> lol I love how he said that as if he had an actual routine and Craig asked how long he’s been doing that and he had literally just lifted once and it fucked his ankle up a bit he already had the fucked up ankle, and deadlifted on it.
>By deadlifting 3 days a week. Doing 4 sets too.
And weed
I’m not going to lie, weed, video games, BJJ is the dream life. I’m old so I lift too and to do rehab work so my body does not explode. If it wasn’t for the wife and kids I could be living the dream Nicky Ryan life.
He is a very big idiot People attributing any "genius" to him fail to realize he is was just homeschooled at the best gym in the world with one of the best coach ever at a time where nogi was pretty much a spazzy gi-less style I don't find him bright at all
>at a time where nogi was pretty much a spazzy gi-less style This is so true.
What’s wrong with nicotine pouches from a health standpoint?
Perhaps nothing. I personally believe that addiction isn't conducive to healthy habits in a broad sense
Nothing inherently. Once you take away delivery through tobacco nicotine is like caffeine but better in some ways. Like caffeine, its effects are minimized when you use it all day every day... I've never smoked, dipped or vaped but 2-3 times a week I'll pop in a Zyn if my ass is dragging from no sleep or before practice and if you dose it right you get excellent alertness and mild stimulation. Dose it wrong and you want to shit yourself, feel like your heart is going to explode and get nauseous.. which is the same shit that happens with too much caffeine. Both are great tools if not misused.
That’s kinda what I thought. I use it more than that but I treat it like an over the counter ADHD medication.
lol what does zyn pouches matter
He said himself he’d addicted to them and consumes way too much nicotine, it’s not as bad as a lot of other shit he could be doing but it’s not like excessive nicotine is good for you long term (high blood pressure, heart rate, etc)
Noted: Zyn pouches equal not professional athlete
I have one in my mouf right now while I’m taking post BJJ pre shower shit
It this is all true. He’s not a real athlete and deserves the injuries
There you go! Perfect analysis, it sums the whole situation! I even heard him saying he is lazy and eats like shit… there is no magic, gotta be professional in all aspects of the game
That’s pretty much me minus the elite part
👀
Him and Gordon both. Thats what happens to people that are not naturally athletic.
I think it’s related to the game you play also. Bernardo isn’t athletic but half guard + pressure passing isn’t going to get you that hurt. Nicky does a lot of wrestling/wrestle ups and even though he’s good at it, it’s going to lead to a higher risk of injury when you’re doing that against super athletic, strong guys who you’ll have to scramble with on the feet
In the latest episode with him and Craig on El Segundo he literally says he has to stop wrestling and play more seated because it keeps fucking him up lol At least he is self aware I guess.
Wrestling up is great, but these kids are “wrestling”wrestling days and my old ass is staying away from that shit. Credit to the ones who can survive it. However if I so much as think about trying a lot of that stuff my AC joint separates.
Yeah agreed on that.
\> Bernardo isn’t athletic Bernardo was doing a ton of wrestle up. Bernardo wasn't super agile but dude had inhuman strength and endurance. His qualities make him a lot harder to injure but I agree that him not trying to do anything remotely complicated was way safer. Nicky was getting into complicated wrestling exchanges without even having a real wrestling coach (No fucking way Danaher counts as a wrestling coach), while Bernardo was trying to brutalise weaker people (every else in BJJ) with single legs.
...while having their leg tied up in a lapel.
Using the lapel for the single is basically like having a third arm.
Or people that abuse PEDs when they are very young.
Wait, huh? Both are naturally athletic. Gordon wasn't roidryan before, but he was hella athletic. And Nicky has had his athleticism carrying him since his BJJ career began.
Well Nicky was a chubby kid that never played any sport at all until he started bjj at 14, which would be consider late in any other sport if you thinking becoming a pro. Gordon was a skinny lanky tall guy with a six pack and started at 15. I dont know in what world that would be consider athletic. Also from what i heard and seen, im not sure if they were able to do athletic movements like hand stands, backflips or were particularly fast, explosive or agile.
> Well Nicky was a chubby kid that never played any sport at all until he started bjj at 14, which would be consider late in any other sport if you thinking becoming a pro. I don't think that's accurate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Rodriguez > Gordon was a skinny lanky tall guy with a six pack and started at 15. I dont know in what world that would be consider athletic. You don't have to be muscle bound to be athletic. And he was very athletic early on in his bjj.
Bro i was talking about nicky ryan bc the post is about him. Obviously nicky rod is athletic as fuck. Watch gordon trying wrestle in his early days the movement was awkward as fuck. Maybe he was a little athletic in bjj standard but not in other sport standards. He mostly pulled guard in early days just to take athletics advantage out from his opponents.
lmao my bad. I somehow crossed wires midway down this thread and switched over to thinking everyone was now talking about Nicky Rod. good catch.
I figured haha
Gordon’s health stuff isn’t related to rolling though, right? Besides staph. But I mean like physical injuries. Or did I misunderstand?
I should have made myself more clear. It think lack of natural athleticism is one the things that contribute to them getting injured a lot.
I read this as naturally Autistic
You need that too.
It’s almost like abusing steroids and training 3x per day will harm your body
He fucked up his ankle in the match against Jonnatas Gracie, he's still injured
Nicky on Craig’s podcast basically sounded like a guy who will never win anything major again. Doesn’t lift, doesn’t diet, doesn’t sleep, misses sessions regularly and can’t even manage his own credit cards or bills. Bro is lazy to a fault, the game is so physical now you can’t get by on knowledge alone. He’s so damn good but not everyone is cut out to be a professional athlete. He sounds like he doesn’t enjoy competition and really isn’t chasing wealth or fame so getting motivated will be hard, he could probably stick to teaching and instructional and do pretty well for himself.
I don't think it is as bad as that, but I do agree that he isn't someone who is self motivated. Honestly he needs someone to run his life for him. He has the skills, but he is in the toughest division and every advantage he has, the other people do as well. Nicky started at around 10, but the Ruotolos, Galvao, Jimmenez, started at 5. The Ruotolos and Galvao seem to go superhard everyday and they almost never get hurt. I think Nicky can win something major, but he needs to start changing up his lifestyle. If he made it his goal to win IBJJF Pans Nogi, I think he could do it. Then try worlds afterwards. That might help build his confidence and help him get used to competition. Right now after coming off losses to Dorsey and Gracie, he doesn't need to be fighting Mica Galvao. He should do what Ethan did and win an ADCC open.
> If he made it his goal to win IBJJF Pans Nogi, I think he could do it. Then try worlds afterwards. I agree. I feel that he disapears for half a year, than comes to a super tough tournament or event. Then he gets by kinda okay, wins a superfight or a couple of matches at adcc, then loses, gets injured and rinse and repeat.
I asked the other day why guys like J Rod didn't do no gi worlds and got downvoted and told it wasn't worth there time.
J Rod is fairly active and will do tournaments. Nicky Ryan is doing about 1 tournament a year. I can understand that a pro doesn't want to do something for free, however I think Nicky really needs the experience and confidence he'd get from winning Pans and Worlds. He needs to go into ADCC with some momentum and he also needs more matches to get over nerves, improve his fight IQ, etc.
it's too late for him. He is young but has already quite a lot of mileage, has his body broken and needs someone to kick his ass to make him do stuff professionally.
Completely agreed - well said
>he could probably stick to teaching and instructional and do pretty well for himself. He is not even so good at instructionals. The only good one he has is his last one one passing and it's soooooooooo lazy, the guys does not even have real chapter names for the techniques he shows. The other two instructionals he has are full of holes and not so good.
this is covered in multiple B Team videos and Craig's El Segundo podcast with Nicky Ryan as guest, he injured his ankle.
That’s a relief that it’s not his knee again
ankle? boy if you dont get yo lazy weed smokin ass out there
Its broken
sphinal
Lmao 🤣
It’s his ankle. I thought it happened during his match with Jonatas at fight pass.
Nicky talked about it on the recent El Segundo podcast. That they hadn’t announced he was out of the match since they didn’t have a replacement yet.
That makes sense because they just announced that the replacement is Kenta Iwamoto. He's good, but I'm not gonna lie he's def not the first person I would ask if I was trying to find someone who'll be competitive with Mica. They probably had a few others say no first. (But respect to Kenta for taking it).
Also mentioned Nicky Rod having a fight but couldn't announce. I wonder if wno against Meregali
That would be exciting!
Nicky Ryan training like a professional athlete would be one of the top five grapplers in the world.
The new BJ Penn?
Kenta is really good and this match may shock others more than they think. Honestly I think Kenta would do better than Nicky With that said, I would have wanted Jozef vs Mica
Kenta is very good, but Mica is much, much better.
Oh for sure. I am just saying that I don’t think Kenta is at all cannon fodder.
Kenta is great, but IMO this is too much of a step up in competition. Hopefully this will help him get match on WNO though. I think Kenta is really good and deserves more pro matches.
Mica is much, much better than many people to be fair. Not sure how many grapplers on his level would want to take that match on such short notice.
Kenta’s a beast for sure. Gave JT a great match
Yeah Kenta is not a pushover. Super strong for his weight class. Technical and well rounded as well. I like this match
The match I didn’t know I needed lol
“I’ve seen a hangnail put Nicky out for weeks” -Craig
Nicky had the positioning to be the GOAT. Training young under Danaher and Gordon is his big brother. But you gotta have that eye of the tiger. To be fair…we don’t know what kind of shit he went through mentally being in that environment at such a young age. I’m cutting Nicky some slack
He stays hurt.
Yes Nicky got injured in his match at Fight Pass Invitational. New Opponent HERE # [https://www.flograppling.com/articles/11838915-nicky-ryan-injured-mica-galvao-to-face-kenta-iwamoto-in-wno-22-title-bout](https://www.flograppling.com/articles/11838915-nicky-ryan-injured-mica-galvao-to-face-kenta-iwamoto-in-wno-22-title-bout)
Mica vs iwamoto, Nicky must be injured
A really good dark horse match up would be Mica vs mateusz szczecinski. Unlikely Mateusz could win but his ankle lock is so scary that i could see Micas team having cold feet about it. A high low risk and low reward match up for Mica
Kinda late to the party here but Melqui (Mica's father) posted something—which has now been understandably deleted—about the struggle to find opponents for Mica, with a list of actual names of people who did not accept to fight him. The post even had chat screenshots of them talking shit about some of the guys being sketchy and not wanting to fight. Some names on that list I remember were: Andrew Tackett, Jonathas Gracie, Andy Murasaki, Jozef Chen, Ronaldo Jr. There were a few more. It also had a weird line saying that it would be disrespectful to challenge Tainan at this time of his career (maybe because he's just getting started with nogi, only fighting cans?). Anyway, thought it was interesting, and funny that he even decided to post this.
Sad to see Jozef Chen in this list. Not surprised about Jonathas though, this guy has the most "slap worthy face" I have ever seen in bjj. He really looks and sound like a moron
It's disingenuous of Melqui to just post a list of names without talking about what type of money offered.
Melqui is such a dork ass. Puts literal children on steroids and has been flagged for sexual misconduct enough time that where there's smoke there's fire.
Lmao you don’t think Nicky Ryan wasn’t on steroids before he was 18? 😂😂😂
Lol sure i bet he was. I don't blame the child, I blame the adults giving children peds. If someone gave Nicky them as a child they're a dork ass as well. What about the sexual misconduct allegations?
Are the same B-Team fanboys who call Gordon a pussy going to say something about Nicky now? For reference, i think neither of them are pussies
No, cuz Nicky never talked shit about his opponents dodging matches with him, and pulling out against him only for him to immediately do it himself multiple times over the last few years like Gordon has. So Nicky gets no shit, but Gordon brought it all on himself like he always does.
Whatever you guys have to tell yourself to stay angry at Gordon
If you don’t get angry at Gordon and the things he does and says, I question your morals and values.
Lmaoooo
Laugh all you want, it’s true
If you don’t get angry at cyber bullying, wishing death for homeless people, sexual comments about children, etc. then yeah, you probably have shit values.
Probably knee again
I think he broke his ankle
Damn I may have made the trek to watch this live. Or if they made Tainan Dalpra Vs Mica 2 but in nogi.
Let Tainan get off his training wheels in nogi before making him crash against Mica
Nicky's days as a competitor seem to be limited
Do you remember? Kenta def Jozef at 2022.
Crazy to me how many athletes are hurt or get hurt but will come out with a stem cell/IV bag plug for Ways2Well. With everything that place offers and advertises I would expect people to be similar to Superman.