Gordon Ryan is making a miraculous return to form after battling through severe health issues for the first half of 2023, but that doesn’t mean everyone is impressed with his comeback campaign.
The grappling star shocked the masses back in May when he released a photo of his emaciated body. Ryan had lost some serious muscle and pounds as he battled through a variety of health issues. It was a farcry from what fans were used to seeing, but certainly something Ryan was expecting to rebound from.
Earlier this week, Ryan released an updated photo just a few weeks removed from his shocking physical condition and the 27-year-old looks to have bulked back up quite a bit. Ryan still has some work to do in his recovery, but fans were shocked to see the amount of muscle he has already put back on.
Things seem to be moving in a positive direction for Ryan, but he has picked up some doubters along the way. Some fans have found a way to body shame the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) ace as he builds himself back up for competition, suggesting that it’s all related to steroid use. Ryan addressed his critics during a Thursday appearance at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4.
“It’s just amazing to see the level of intelligence of the average Instagram commentor,” answered Ryan when asked if it was flattering to have fans track his body transformation (shown in the above video player). “The only place worse than Instagram is Reddit and YouTube. Those are like the top 3 dumbest people I’ve ever had to interact with.”
“I was sitting around at 220, 225 pounds before my surgery,” he continued. “But I wasn’t able to lift because I had strep throat and I was sick and I wasn’t training. Then I lost like 20 pounds the week after surgery because I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t really drink anything. I was taking IVs because I had my tonsils taken out.
“So I lost like 20 pounds, but then the second I started eating I went right back up to like 225. Now I’m actually eating pretty well because I’m not on anti-biotics anymore and my stomach is doing okay. So now I’m getting big and starting to lift again and I’m not doing jiu-jitsu. When I do jiu-jitsu twice a day it’s hard for me to get big because I’m doing cardio all day. Now I’m just lifting weights and eating food so now I’m actually able to get big. So now I’m like 240. I’m 10 pounds heavier, 15 pounds heavier than I normally am.
“If you actually think about it for more than 10 seconds you would be like, ‘Oh that may actually make sense.’ But people are just like, ‘Oh man, you see what happens. You see what happens when he’s not on steroids.’ I’m like no I just had surgery and I was dying for two months.”
What do you think? How is Ryan bulking up so quick?
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This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
