The duel between Felipe Pena “Preguiça” and Gordon Ryan, one of the big talents of the new generation, was surrounded with great expectations. Two of the biggest talents of the competition scene, they were face to face on December 17 at Studio 540, in Solana Beach, Calif. In a one-hour, no-gi, submission-only match, Pena took a half-hour to take Gordon’s back and sink a rear naked choke.
Pena repeled every one of Ryan’s leg attacks, passed the guard twice and took the back a couple of times. Eventually he took the back and finished.
“I’m very happy,” he told Graciemag. “It was a one-hour fight, and I had never fought like that. But I trained a lot for it. Little by little I gained confidence. When he locked the attacks I was able to get out, and the finish was a house specialty with the back-take.”
Along with Ryan, another member of the Danaher Death Squad in action was Garry Lee. He faced Kim Terra and came out with a submission 15 minutes in.
The first bout of the evening pitted Ryan’s brother Nicky Ryan against Kennedy Maciel, Son of four-time BJJ world champion Charles Cobrinha. It went into overtime, and Kennedy won with a triangle.