With sometimes much and sometimes little drama, Metamoris 5 went down in the LBC on Saturday afternoon.
It’s a noticeably different experience live compared to the pay-per-view. Each fight is deathly silent – even the corners are low volume – in a manner you don’t see at the IBJJFs and don’t tend to appreciate while listening to Kenny Florian and Jeff Glover on the broadcast. The pacing of the drums with the intensity of the action is that much more vivid and evidently if you root against Eddie Bravo, he (jokingly) threatens to beat you up.
Bloody Elbow was on the ground for the event and talked with jiu-jitsu and MMA players in attendance for their thoughts on the day.
Firas Zahabi
What are your thoughts on Rory’s performance?
I think it was a great experience for Rory. He gets to taste what it’s like with world class jiu-jitsu. He gets to compete with them. It’s a great experience for his title fight coming up and I think it will give him that edge.
What do you think he did well?
I think he did a good job going for submissions and getting back up when he needed to. He got in some bad positions but he was able to get out of there and scramble for new positions. That’s a big part of fighting for us. I think because there are no points, guys let their guard go a little more relaxed and he spent a lot less energy not fighting the guard pass too much. And I think he played a smart game. Of course, J.T. is a world champion in jiu-jitsu. This is his field. MMA guys they come in this field and we have to show them respect because jiu-jitsu guys can’t go in the field of MMA. It’s a whole other world. It’s a whole other speed. It’s a whole other martial art.
Do you think Rory just wanted to punch him in the face?
No, no. We were just clowning around in the outtakes and all that. I think J.T. and all the guys here, the jiu-jitsu competitors, we look up to them, we watch them, we train with them. We love jiu-jitsu. It’s a huge part of MMA.
What was your favorite part of the night?
I loved Garry Tonon’s performance. He was so aggressive, one submission to the next. I think it’s phenomenal for the sport. Guys like that will take this sport and make it mainstream. If guys fight like Garry Tonon, the sport will be mainstream in no time.
Sakuraba’s super fan
My friend, what did you think of the night? (We’d met earlier)
Yes! Nice. Nice. Okay.
You’re a happy man?
Yes! Nice.
Lyoto Machida
What are your thoughts on the fights?
I got here around Rory MacDonald’s fight. It was a great show. Unfortunately, Renzo got hurt and he could not do more things during the fight but, at the end of the day, the fight was great.
What matchup would you like to see next if you could pick anyone?
I’d like to see Roger Gracie and Buchecha with no gi, or Rener Gracie with anyone.
Sean Apperson (founder of Jiu-Jitsupedia)
What are your thoughts on the night?
There was a lot of action in most of the fights. Everyone was going for submissions and it was fun to watch. That’s what people want to see. Grappling events are not traditionally a spectator sport. It’s hard to fill a crowd so you really have to make it exciting, you have to make it what we like to watch – people going for submissions, fun scrambles, a lot of action, not a lot of stalemates and slow play.
How do you rate Metamoris relative to other jiu-jitsu competitions?
It’s definitely one of the best. They run a really professional event and they’re getting everything really organized now. Copa Podio’s a great event as well. It seems like they’re competitors and they’re running an event on the same day, so that’s interesting.
How do you think the fighters feel?
It depends on how well they’re taken care of. It’s tough for jiu-jitsu guys to make a good living so if they’re rewarded for their efforts they’re going to be happy. They’re getting some great guys. They’re getting a lot of great UFC fighters. You don’t normally see that. You‘re not going to see Rory MacDonald going and competing at the jiu-jitsu world championships. This is the first time you get to see guys mixing it up and you get to see guys that are normally just fighting in MMA fight other top-level, world-class grapplers.
Did you see Sakuraba’s super fan over there?
I did, I liked super fan. He made my night.
Josh Barnett
Have the Metamoris people talked to you about fighting again?
Not anything particularly detailed yet.
What was your favorite part of the night?
I liked Rory dropping back on legs. He was just trying to take that thing home, I enjoyed that. Going for the finish, not looking to just dominate position but trying to get that leg.
How do you rate Metamoris relative to other top jiu-jitsu competitions?
It’s an entirely different animal. It’s professional. It’s a bout card instead of a tournament so I don’t think there’s really a comparison. This is the highest level. They pick the champs and put them up against each other. They don’t just do whoever shows up, whatever. This is a different animal.
What’s your dream Metamoris matchup for yourself and if you could watch anyone?
The dream matchup for me? Vulcan. I’d like to wrestle Vulcan. And my dream matchup to see in here? Hulk Hogan and re-incarnated Randy “Macho Man” Savage tag teaming against the Road Warriors with the re-incarnated Hawk.
Ralek Gracie (founder of Metamoris)
What are your thoughts on the fights tonight?
I caught like three of them because I was backstage. But of the ones that I caught, I wanted more. I wanted more action. I think I always want more action, though.
Which three did you see?
Actually, no. Garry Tonon and Zak was a great match. That first one I liked a lot. I missed Vinny Magalhaes. I thought Vinny should have just went harder. The guy’s a brown belt. I think he could have went harder. I missed Keenan. And then I saw the secret match. I thought that was good. Satoshi had been training with a gi. He was expecting to fight somebody in a gi and then it turns out that he’s fighting somebody no gi, and I think that was a big change-up for him. They spent a lot of time training in a gi. It’s a different pace, it’s a different sensitivity.
Did he know whether it was going to be no gi or gi?
He didn’t. They knew that they had the option to do either gi or no gi. But that was it. So he came out and then he decided to take his gi off because he realized his opponent was no gi. And I thought it was great. I thought it was a cool performance. Jake is solid. He’s a guy who’s going to put weight on you, he’s going to pressure pass. And if he can get to your back he’s going to be trouble. But ultimately I missed a little bit of action. I missed a little more of a shakeup on that one. I think in a lot of these matches the guys are just scared to shake it up because there’s so much on the line, there are so many people watching, they don’t want to give up too much of a position.
I talked to Lyoto Machida about what matchups he’d love to see and his answer was Rener Gracie against anyone.
It’s true. Rener’s a beast. He’s an undercover giant in the game. Yeah, that would be very cool. But I don’t think he’ll do it. He’s too busy.
Or it was Roger Gracie against Buchecha (I forgot to say with no gi).
Yeah, that’s a good one. Number two.
Any hints on future matchups?
No.
Special thanks to Kountermove, Christie Sullivan and Brian Knapp for providing the tickets to the grappler’s delight.