Nicky Ryan has had a roller coaster of a month.
In the middle of an impressive match against Dante Leon at the Road to ADCC event a couple of weeks ago, Ryan noticeably suffered a knee injury. The extent of the injury was unknown at the time, and though Ryan brought home the win against Leon and started a conversation about his wrestling skills, it will likely be his last match for a few months.
Days ago, Ryan revealed that he’d sustained a meniscus injury that would require either repair or removal of the cartilage, with both options carrying their own pros and cons.
“So I just got the results of my mri and was told that my meniscus has completely flipped around and it’s causing my knee to lock up. At this point I’m still unable to walk or extend my leg so it will definitely require surgery. I’m stuck between getting it repaired which is a 4-6 month recovery time or getting it taken taken out which is only a 4-6 week recovery time but almost guarantees that I get arthritis later down the line. 2 of my teammates haven gotten the repair done and both of them ended up hurting it again and eventually had to get it removed anyways. The doctor recommends that I get I repaired but so did the doctors of both of my teammates and the last I want is to waste 6 months of my life recovering from the repair surgery just to get it taken out anyways. I definitely have a lot to think about and will look to get a second opinion on it from another doctor.”
While Ryan initially seemed hesitant to get the surgery that would repair his meniscus, he shared a post yesterday that revealed that he had chosen to undergo the operation after getting more doctors’ opinions.
“The work never stops, last upper body workout before surgery on Thursday. After getting multiple doctors opinions, I have decided to get the repair. Really sucks that I have to take a long break after building this momentum and finally getting rid of that competition rust but it is what it is. I’ll be back out there soon enough and just want to give a big thanks to @izaakmichellbjj for running me through these workouts as well as @skilledviolence for continuing to support me.”
It looks like Ryan’s victory will be followed up by a multiple-month absence, but if his last performance is any indication of what’s to come, we can still keep our hopes very high for the young athlete.
