Ryan Bow

Ryan Bow is a retired mixed martial artist from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He moved to Japan alone at the age of 17 to study martial arts and the Japanese language. A veteran of more than 30 professional fights, he has competed in MMA events around the world. In 2001, Bow signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to fight Jens Pulver for the inaugural Lightweight World Championship. Unfortunately, the fight was canceled when Bow was deemed unfit to compete after disclosing the disability he has lived with since birth. He continued fighting, primarily in Japan, and eventually rose to become the number one world-ranked fighter in the World Shooto organization before retiring from competition in 2009. In 2014, Bow moved to the United Arab Emirates, where he was hired as the head MMA coach at Team Nogueira Dubai under the guidance of former Pride and UFC Heavyweight Champion Rodrigo Nogueira and former BJJ World Champion Rafael Haubert. Today, he works as an author, Japanese interpreter, and MMA coach based in Yokohama, Japan. Most recently, Bow has shared his inspiring story, from being born with a disability to becoming a world-class mixed martial artist, in both his novel and screenplay, Fighting Blind.