June 9th
Metamoris II, wrapped up over the weekend and although an amazing and prestigious venue with incredibly talented athletes, many viewers (and certainly many tournament-goers) were left in a state of melancholy. While I believe most people felt this, I believe that even those people that held the greatest of sadness still feel the same;
The no points, “submission-or-decision” version is a platform to showcase jiu-jitsu skill at the highest level – and we are all glad to have the opportunity to experience it.
Does the ‘Bad’ Overshadow the ‘Good’?
There were some great jiu-jitsu matches: Rafeal Lovato Jr vs. Andre Galvao, Brualio Estima vs. Rodolfo Vieira, and Kron Gracie vs. Shinya Aoki (despite a prolonged “feeling out” process in the beginning). Things took a turn for the worst in the highly-talked-about match between Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu and Brendan Schaub (video).
Abeu, who did just about everything he could to engage in the fight, was highly disappointed afterwards (despite winning by decision). Athletes come to an event like this to both test and showcase their skill in grappling. Abreu wasn’t truly given the opportunity, and Schaub’s “nullification” of Abreu’s jiu-jitsu was borderline disrespectful and his strategy, confusing.
The Will To Survive
Ralek Gracie said, “I founded Metamoris to create a tournament where submissions are the only goal, not points. With the introduction of judges, we will avoid judges… Someone in a fight is always sharper (link).”
As a student of Gracie Jiujitsu (Joyce) and who has had the opportunity to speak and train with both Ryron & Rener Gracie (Schaub’s jiujitsu trainers), I can say I understand what the Gracie system is all about. Obviously Gracie Jiujitsu works and is a highly-refined martial art, however when you put a brown belt (Schaub) up against a 12-time Grappler’s quest, 3-time World Nogi Champion (and many more accolades) back belt (Abreu), you can only hope for one thing in my opinion, to survive.
In addition, the thought somewhere in Schaub’s brain, were UFC President Dana White’s one condition for taking this contest, “Don’t get hurt.” Fortunately or unfortunately for Schaub, it was just his reputation that got hurt.
What Needs To Be Done
The only problem that I see in the Metamoris Tournament is in casting. I believe that the matches should only be performed by players of black belt level or higher. Furthermore, the black belt must be in a grappling-based system of martial art. Metamoris does not need to be in the game to bring in “big names” (such as those in the UFC). Audiences around the world wish to be riveted by high-level, submission-only grappling and while some competitors can be found in the UFC, Pride, etc, the focus should remain on those whose grappling game holds a high degree of depth and intelligence.
In that light, I am very pleased of the announcement of:
Royler Gracie vs. Eddie Bravo for Metamoris III
Eddie Bravo: “..they want to find out if I got lucky that time.” (Full 1st Fight video)
Royler Gracie: “He got lucky.”
Combative Corner: “We shall see won’t we? Either way, it should be a best outta 3, don’tcha think?”
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