Can Gordon and Nicky Beat The Ribeiro Brothers' Incredible ADCC Record?

There are many brothers who have competed in ADCC, yet few who can claim to have appeared in the same event. 

Braulio and Victor Estima, Leo and Rico Vieira, and Joao and Paulo Miyao are all ADCC veterans, but the record for the bothers with the most ADCC appearances goes to one very famous pair of grapplers. 

Saulo began his ADCC career in 1999 and last competed in ADCC in 2009, while Xande’s first ADCC appearance was in 2003 and he most recently competed at the 2017 ADCC in Finland.

Saulo and Xande Ribeiro competed together in no less than four ADCC events– 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. And together, they have over 70 ADCC matches with a combined 52 wins. 

It would take a generation for the Ryan bros to even come close to the Ribeiro brothers, who have a combined 23 years of ADCC experience. 

Gordon and Nicky Ryan are young enough that they could theoretically keep competing in ADCC for many years to come, but there is one factor that could stand in their way of breaking the Ribeiro brothers’ record. 

Both Saulo and Xande would regularly compete in the ADCC absolute division, with Xande taking silver in 2009 and bronze in 2011. 

Nicky may be young and could still grow but he’s unlikely to ever get big enough to make him competitive in an absolute division. Gordon already racked up 8 ADCC matches in only one event, but if Nicky were to fight into the finals he could only get a maximum of four matches per event. 

And should Gordon realize his dream and win the ADCC absolute, that would take him out of the main event and put him into the Superfight, which is only one match every two years. 

The chance is slim that we will see anybody even come close to the Ribeiro's incredible record– they could go down in the ADCC history books and it's unlikely anybody will ever be able to overtake them. 

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