Many in the mixed martial arts community know Ryan Gunzo as a slick jiu-jitsu practitioner and the familiar voice behind local promotion Barebones MMA. But Gunzo is much more than that. He is the definition of a martial artist.<\/p>\n
The Ocean View youngster is not only about fighting, but he lives martial arts. Whether it is inside the cage, on the mats, or behind a microphone, if it is fight-related, Gunzo always seems to find his place.<\/p>\n
While he has spent years sharpening his skills in the gym and continues to do so, he believes the streets of Ocean View have played an equally important role in shaping the fighter he has become. In fact, he jokingly describes everyone from his community as hardcore, whether they have trained in martial arts or not.<\/p>\n
At the weekend, those in attendance got to see another side of Gunzo’s game when he stepped into the ring for a kickboxing bout in Retreat.<\/p>\n
Known primarily for his success on the jiu-jitsu mats, Gunzo appeared eager to remind people that he can do more than submit opponents. He can throw kicks and punches, too.<\/p>\n
Gunzo was part of the Winter Cup hosted by Vibrant Sport, an event that showcased several combat disciplines under one roof.<\/p>\n
“It was so much fun. I missed this. It’s been a couple of years where it was just grappling,” he said after the event.<\/p>\n
“Representing Ocean View, baby. The 021 is the best neighbourhood. I love that place. All my friends and family are there. Ocean View all the way to the top! That place bred me, man.”<\/p>\n
His pride in where he comes from is impossible to miss.<\/p>\n
Gunzo is one of a growing number of martial artists helping put Ocean View on the map while also flying the flag for Cape Town’s thriving combat sports scene. Whether they are competing locally or making their mark further afield, fighters from the area continue to prove that talent can come from anywhere.<\/p>\n
And with his willingness to compete across multiple disciplines, his passion for the sport, and the backing of a gym such as Mecs, led by South Africa’s junior MMA coach Lyndall Sandenbergh, it would surprise few if Gunzo eventually became one of the recognised faces of South African martial arts on the international stage.<\/p>\n
For now, though, he remains exactly what Ocean View loves most, one of its own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many in the mixed martial arts community know Ryan Gunzo as a slick jiu-jitsu practitioner and the familiar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[357068,357066,64,63,159894,5956,146779,18577,1913,786,357062,159903,72245,357067,10280,785,275939,75195,357063,1183,5953,357069,85,357064,357065,98634,357070],"class_list":["post-739877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-martial-arts-community","tag-357066","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-barebones-mma","tag-cape-town","tag-combat-sport","tag-combat-sports","tag-fight","tag-fighting","tag-gunzo","tag-jiu-jitsu","tag-kickboxing","tag-mecs","tag-mixed-martial-arts","tag-mma","tag-ocean-view","tag-retreat","tag-ryan-gunzo","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african","tag-south-african-athletes","tag-sports","tag-vibrant-sport","tag-winter-cup","tag-youngster","tag-youth-in-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}