Metamoris

 

 

 

Metamoris

I was very excited about this event and my excitement was not disappointed.  The event had a few hiccups and at times there were lulls between matches, and I wish they would have had another color commentator to back up Rener during the matches. Other than that it was a great event and exciting to see grappling showcased in this way.

 

*Disclaimer. All of the grapplers on this card are amazing jiujitsu athletes and I have nothing but respect for them and their accomplishments. These reviews are simply my interpretation as a fan of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Caio Terra vs Jeff Glover (Winner: Caio Terra by Armbar)

This was one of the matches listed that I was sure would be full of exciting grappling action. Instead I felt it was a little boring and failed to show either fighters’ true potential. Their first match against each other was a back and forth tussle that kept me on the edge of my seat. The match that took place last night resembled something like a flow roll at the gym. I feel Caio Terra pushed the pace a bit and Jeff played a very defensive and relaxed game( letting Caio pass his guard and attack submissions), eventually being submitted.  I am not sure what exactly happened but this match was not the same exciting demonstration of competition that their first encounter was and I was disappointed.

 

Kayron Gracie vs Rafael Lovato Jr. (Winner: Rafael Lovato Jr. by Kimura)

This match was fantastic. Once the fighters were given the go ahead to commence the match they went right after it. Both guys attacked the whole time. Kayron went after Lovato and tried to pass his guard for a very long time. He had some good attempts but was unable to and seemed to slow down a lot after this point. Lovato took over and showed some nice skills eventually submitting Kayron with a kimura from north south. Great match from two great competitors.

 

Kron Gracie vs Otavio Souza (Winner: Kron by Armbar)

This was one of the matches I was deeply excited about. You have Kron who is an incredibly active and very submission oriented competitor, then you put him up against Otavio who is an ultra aggressive grappler with a reputation of being freakishly strong. The match definitely didn’t disappoint. Both grapplers went after each other with Otavio working from top for a good portion of the match. The match was back and forth with each grappler fighting intensely for grip control. The submission came towards the end of the 20 minute duration with Kron catching an armbar on an exhausted Otavio.

 

Dean Lister vs Xande Ribeiro (Draw)

Xande definitely adjusted his game for Dean showing why he is still a top competitor and answered the questions I had about his leg lock susceptibility.  He went against the reigning ADCC champion who is known for being a leg lock wizard and neutralized his game. Xande kept his hips back and stopped Dean from getting under him which denied Dean a lot of his typical set ups. He had Dean in some bad spots at times, most notably an armlock that seemed to be close to breaking Dean’s arm, but somehow Dean fought out of it and attempted to rally back at the end with a few leg lock attacks but it was just not enough and the match ended in a draw.

 

Andre Galvao vs Ryron Gracie  (Draw)

This match started of with the two guys locking up and Ryron attempting a foot trip which had Andre off balance for a second. Soon after Andre got a takedown follow by a guard pass and from this point on he controlled the match for the better part of twenty minutes. Ryron defended the submissions very well but was unable to mount any substantial offense. After the match there was a lot of frustration from Andre who used poor word choice to articulate his frustration. Ryron after the match talked about defensive style of BJJ and mentioned self defense.  Here is my interpretation of these two things and I mean no disrespect to either grappler. Andre controlled the match from top to bottom and was frustrated by an opponent who would not engage in a way that would leave exposures for submissions. When two grapplers are going after one another and trying to finish each other (which was the idea of the tournament) openings come. Ryron is no slouch but trying to submit a skilled black belt who is staying balled up and has no intention of trying to best his opponent, is hard. Ryron talked about defensive jiu-jitsu and self defense and I agree that his defense was superb and he did a good job of not getting submitted. However, this was not a self defense scenario and your objective was not to defend but to submit. If this had been a scenario of self defense Andre would have been in a great position to punch and elbow from top.  I don’t feel you can say your defensive jiu-jitsu was the best because you didn’t get submitted because in reality if you had someone get passed your legs into side mount or mount you would be in trouble. You can spin the match however you wish, but it was a draw with Andre being the competitor who was in the most dominant positions most often. Mad respect still goes out to Ryron for hanging in there against one of the best in our sport.

Roger Gracie Vs Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida (Draw)

This match was the main event and it was a good match. Roger who later revealed he had been battling with a bad infection for weeks seemed a bit tired in the match. Buchecha displayed a lot of guile during their match. Almost hitting a sweep from inverted guard and a close toe hold attempt, but the best action came at the closing minutes of the match with Buchecha executing a slick berimbolo sweep and jumping onto Roger catching an armbar. Roger struggled but made it out of the lock. Roger was still very good in the match and was able to pass and sweep, he just was not the normal dominant Roger we are used to. I am really interested to see what happens after this match. Was this match signifying a sort of changing of the guard? Will Roger come back to grappling with a renewed sense of drive?

 

Over all it was a great event for grappling and I hope you guys were able to watch it and enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing it again!