metamoris

Metamoris 6 went down this Saturday.

Once again, most of the matches ended up as ties.

In the main event, Josh Barnett finished Ryron Gracie with a toe hold to win his second match in the event.

The co-main event between Renato Babalu and Chael Sonnen was a tie, as did the gi match between Keenan Cornelius and Xande Ribeiro.

Here are the complete results of the evening.

Metamoris 6

San Diego, CA

Saturday, May 9

Josh Barnett defeated Ryron Gracie via submission (toe hold)

Chael Sonnen vs. Renato Babalu ended as a tie

Dillon Danis defeated Joe Lauzon via submission (d’arce choke)

Xande Ribeiro vs. Keenan Cornelius ended as a tie

Clark Gracie vs.  Roberto Satoshi ended as a tie

Evandro Nunes vs. Jimmy Friedrich ended as a tie

Michael Liera vs. Morgan Neidlinger ended as a tie

Francisico Iturralde defeated Greg McIntyre via submission (armlock)

Ryron Gracie vs. André Galvão at Metamoris 1

Metamoris fans were caught by surprise this afternoon when the event’s Instagram feed announced that Roberto Cyborg is out of this weekend’s card main event.

Cyborg has a rib injury, as he also revealed on Instagram: “Unfortunately due to a rib injury, I won’t be able to fight this weekend at Metamoris. It has been a tough decision to make. I was fully committed to my training and very motivated with the chance of defending the flag of BJJ and taking the title from Josh Barnett, but my trainers and doctors advise me not to fight since I wouldn’t be able to perform, risking my health and jeopardizing my career.”

The event was quick to replace him.

Ryron Gracie stepped up to face Josh Barnett in what Metamoris is calling an “open weight super-match”.

Ryron competed at Metamoris 1, in 2012, when he tied a submission only match against André Galvão.

Metamoris 6 goes down this Saturday, May 9, in the Los Angeles area.

The card also include a match in the gi between Xande Ribeiro and Keenan Cornelius, among other attractions.

Metamoris has announced the fight card for its sixth installment.

The event is scheduled May 9 and is already sold out according to the event’s website.

2013 ADCC open class champion Roberto Cyborg will be challenging Pride and UFC veteran Josh Barnett for the Metamoris heavyweight title in the main event.

The co-main event will also feature two UFC veterans, Chael Sonnen vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

The card completes with: Dillon Danis vs. Joe Lauzon, Xande Ribeiro vs. Keenan Cornelius, Clark Gracie vs. Roberto Satoshi (Gi) and Jeff Monson vs. the winner of the Road to Metamoris champion reality show.

In another feature, the Road to Metamoris reality show will gather 16 heavyweights that will compete for a spot on Metamoris 6.

For more info, go to metamoris.com

Yuri Simões was the protagonist of the most thrilling match of last Saturday’s Metamoris 5.

The gi battle between him and Keenan Cornelius made the crowd roar with submission attempts from side to side.

In this exclusive interview for GRACIEMAG.com, Simões talks about the experience and what lessons he took from the 20 minutes against Keenan.

GRACIEMAG.com: How was the experience of a 20-minute-submission-only match?

Yuri Simões: It was different, I had never fought under this kind of rules. I train with no time limit often, but had never competed in this setting before. I gave the best of me to win and it was a great experience regardless of the outcome.

Your opponent was going to be Rafael Lovato Jr and it changed to Keenan Cornelius one week before the match. How did that change your training program and mindset for the event? 

In terms of preparation, the intensity and hours of training continued the same. But the strategy totally changed because Keenan is a completely different fighter to Lovato. Rafael’s game is more predictable, but he is stronger and more experienced. Keenan is more flexible, versatile and unpredictable overall. Nevertheless, I was prepared to play forward and be effective against both.

Your best moment in the match was a leg lock that made everyone think Keenan would tap, but he didn’t. What was missing there for the submission to happen?  

I needed to believe more in that leg lock. Because he is very flexible, I didn’t believe I would get the tap there. I only realized that it was tight when I heard his knee pop twice. He was really tough for not tapping there. Other than that, at the very end of the match I had a heel hook in place and the rule said that the fight would continue if a submission was in place. The referee came talk to me afterwards and said he was sorry he stopped the match.

A little over a month before Metamoris, you fought and beat Keenan in the Worlds No-Gi open class final. Did that match helped you in any way? 

Every fight is a different fight. I know he is one of the best at the time  and that I needed to train as hard as I could to beat him again. It was a tie, but I’m glad my Jiu-Jitsu was not only offensive, but that I also managed to escape from some dangerous situations.

In one of those moments, Simões caught Kennan in what seemed to be a very tight kneebar.

As the crowd waited to see what happened, Keenan had a very strange defense technique.

In the video below, he explains why it worked so well.

Renzo Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba at Metamoris 5 Phto by Scott Hiran/Metamoris

Metamoris 5 had the lowest count of submissions of all prior events along with Metamoris 2.

Only Gary Tonon was able to get a tap on Zak Maxwell in the first match of the program that went down this Saturday, at the Long Beach Convention Center.

After three tries, Tonon finally was able to get the heel hook in place to win.

“We train it a lot and I am glad that I managed to make it work here,” said Tonon after the match.

The second fight was the beginning of the series of draws.

Vinny Magalhães faced last-minute opponent Matheus Diniz, a brown belt under Marcelo Garcia.

With two triangle attempts, Vinny was more dangerous but could not get the finish.

In the third match of the day, Keenan Cornelius and Yuri Simões put on the gi for the most action-filled match of the card.

Yuri first had a kneebar in place, but Keenan was able to escape.

After that, Cornelius was more active and passed guard sometimes and also was able to get a body triangle in place from the back.

The fight went on until the final second with both fighters going for the submission.

The forth match of the evening was the secret match and put UFC’s Jake Shields opposite to WPJJC three-time champion Roberto Satoshi.

Heavier and more used to no-gi competition, Shields controlled the actions and passed guard many times.

The match ended with Shields having a armbar in place, but Satoshi slipped away one more time.

The co-main event of Metamoris 5 was another MMA vs. Jiu-Jitsu type of match up.

Rory MacDonald, UFC’s welterweight #1 title contender, was against IBJJF no-gi Jiu-Jitsu world champion JT Torres.

Unlike the Satoshi-Shields fight, JT put was much more used to no-gi competing and put his game to work against Rory.

Both fighters tried heel hooks and both defended well.

In the end, JT managed a inverted triangle with kimura in the best submission attempt of the match, but could not finish.

The main event was that kind of match that makes the crowd feel that they are witnessing a historical event.

Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba was once again face to face after 14 years their first fight at Pride 10, in Japan.

After sometime standing, Renzo went for a guillotine and pulled guard.

Renzo stayed in closed guard for around five minutes until Sakuraba tried a catch wrestling neck attack that ended with Renzo on top position and passing moments later.

After passing, Renzo got to side control and tried to work a kimura lock, what would be his ultimate revenge.

Despite his tries, Sakuraba was able to resist and another draw took place.

“He is great! I tried to do my best!” said Sakuraba.

“Before I got the call, I was without doing a single push up for three years and now here I am, 27lb lighter. This match lit up my internal flame and now I want to make two MMA fights before my next match, against Matt Hughes, at 2015 ADCC, in Brazil,” said Renzo.

The Gracie also revealed a last-day injury that made the match even harder: “I pulled my knee out yesterday, while rolling With Roberto Gordo. Even so, I took a pain killer and came to fight.

Here are the full results fo Metamoris 5.

Metamoris 5

November 22, 2014

Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA

Renzo Gracie tied with Kazushi Sakuraba after 20:00
JT Torres tied with Rory MacDonald after 20:00
Jake Shields tied with Roberto Satoshi after 20:00
Yuri Simões tied with Keenan Cornelius after 20:00
Vinny Magalhães tied with Matheus Diniz after 20:00
Garry Tonon def. Zak Maxwell by heel hook

Here’s a phot gallery of tonoght’s event (all photos provided by Metamoris).

Renzo Gracie tied with Kazushi Sakuraba after 20:00
JT Torres tied with Rory MacDonald after 20:00
Jake Shields tied with Roberto Satoshi after 20:00
Yuri Simões tied with Keenan Cornelius after 20:00
Vinny Magalhães tied with Matheus Diniz after 20:00
Garry Tonon def. Zak Maxwell by heel hook

Fourteen years after they met in Japan, at Pride 10, Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba will clash again this Saturday, November 22, 2014, at Metamoris 5.

GRACIEMAG caught up with Renzo for a exclusive interview about the rematch.

Renzo recollects the battle from the year 2000, when Sakuraba broke his arm with a kimura lock, reflects on what that moment represented in his career and life and also talks about his preparation and what he expects from the new encounter.

Metamoris 5 goes down next Saturday, in Long Beach.

One of the matches in the card was supposed to be Vinny Magalhães vs. Kevin Casey, but the latter got hurt.

With that, organizers decided not to chose a replacement but to open the chance to beat Vinny to anyone willing to jump in.

Well, not anyone. You need to be a BJJ black belt and send your CV to Metamoris so they can see if you are ready for the challenge.

If you get picked and actualy find a way to defeat Vinny in the 20-minute-submission-only match, you’ll take home $10K.

Feel that you have what it takes to compete against ADCC chanpion, Vinny Pezão?

Send your CV to info@metamoris.com

Here’s the video with Vinny’s preparation to compete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHHva4uXiMY

Watch the video countdown for the match-up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ftj3CfI_wg

Rafael Lovato Jr vs. Kayron Gracie at Metamoris Pro 1. Photo: Ivan Trindade

You can buy tickets for Metamoris 5 this Friday, Oct. 11. The event will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center on Nov. 22.

The submission-only event will host superfights between the following:

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Renzo Gracie

Rory Mcdonald vs. JT Torres

Yuri Simoes vs. Rafael Lovato Jr.

Vinny Magalhaes vs. Kevin Casey

Garry Tonon vs. Zak Maxwell

and one secret match.

Don’t wait to buy your tickets as they go on sale right at 12 p.m. PST and will likely sell out.

More information can be found at www.metamoris.com

Metamoris 5

The fight card for the fifth installment of Metamoris has been announced.

The main event will be a classic rematch of Renzo Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba.

Metamoris 5 is set to take place November 22, at the Long Beach Convention Center.

The fight card also features other exciting matches, such as:

Rory MacDonald vs. JT Torres

Yuri Simões vs. Rafael Lovato Jr

Vinny Magalhães vs. Kevin Casey

Garry Tonon vs. Zak Maxwell

Secret Match

Watch the teaser video for Renzo vs. Sakuraba.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpxdmohwNtE