Right off the bat he finished Matt Arroyo via heel hook. Then Mike Hillebrands tapped out to an RNC. In a semifinal, Ryan went into overtime versus Josh Hayden. He then sank an RNC to win a spot in the final.

On the other bracket, Kyle Griffin beat Quentin Rosenzweig via heel hook. In a quarterfinal he again used the heel hook, on Eduardo Telles. He then beat Felipe Gogolin in a semifinal on overtime. The final lasted just one minute, with Ryan again pulling a heel hook.

The next iteration of EBI is slated for Nov. 6, and Ryan will try to win the belt for a third time. He’s part of the line-up for the middleweight tourney, as is Keenan Cornelius, whom Ryan subbed last August via inverted heel hook.

What can I say. I’m king #kingryan . Hahah but seriously. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Thanks to everyone on the team who helped me prepare for this. Thanks to my mom and dad for always supporting me. Thanks to @eddiebravo10 for putting on another amazing event.And special thanks to @garrytonon @tomdeblass and @danaherjohn for everyhing. You guys are the best. @ebiofficial @phalanx_usa @kimerakoffee @studio540 @musclepharm @thearmbarsoapcompany #danaherdeathsquad

A photo posted by Gordon Ryan (@gordonlovesjiujitsu) on Sep 11, 2016 at 9:57pm PDT