I have not hesitated in the past to lambast the Metamoris when I felt it fell short of expectations. That being said, I feel I owe it credit where credit is due when it put on a streamlined, enjoyable, and legitimate attempt at a professional level grappling event for PPV. Jokes aside from the guy they chose to announce, Raka Mat something or other, the fights started right after 7, went quickly, there was a strange vignette piece with Ken-Flo talking about why Jiu-Jitsu is awesome, but overall I truly enjoyed the event.
Zak Maxwell vs Sean Roberts
I thought Zak would take it with a tighter game and overall control as he surpassed Roberts' flexibility. That was pretty much how it went with Zak achieving mount and looking for some good submissions along the way including what looked like a tight armbar.
Gui Mendes vs Samir Chantre
Winner by baseball/brabo variation. Myself and a good friend and training partner were betting which baseball choke/brabo choke variation would be Samir's undoing and Gui made relatively short work of Samir despite some cuff/inside the pant leg grabbing and the like. Gui passed the guard pretty damn quickly and from there the end was nigh.
Dean Lister vs Babalu
Babalu went for it and wasn't overly cautious in his engaging of the leg lock master with Dean looking more listless as the match waned. Having seen
Keenan Cornelius vs Kevin Casey
Made the best of what they could with a last minute replacement. Got to see Keenan grapple, not against Magalhaes, but not Metamoris' fault.
Rafa Mendes vs Clark Gracie
....it was very....."modern". It's disheartening to see two competitors unwilling to try and stand up or kneel and actually pass the guard. I get the strategy at least in part, I get that passing to the back is easier and more direct perhaps than a traditional guard pass, but in a submission only match with no points lost for potentially getting swept, it would have been nice to see someone attack the other's guard. Good perhaps in that it wasn't the Miyao/Keenan level of refusal to really attack and engage with the ankle grab battle...but still, hard to stomach for someone who wants to still believe even sport jiu-jitsu can be rooted in a martial art.
Royler vs Eddie Bravo
I knew based on seeing Eddie roll with Marcelo that he has legit grappling chops. He looked the worse for wear early on hanging onto that bottom half-guard like his young child's life depended on it and Royler sticking to that head/arm/gable grip to pass knee through. Interesting to see Royler forgo attacking/underhooking the inside/inversion arm. The underhook was lost, Eddie went for it like his or his kid's life depended on it, and inverted which eventually led to the sweep.
Something I'll be rewatching with interest in the future. Eventually, Eddie got where he wanted underneath and things began to crumble but Royler was never so much dominated as online pundits might claim or purport. As much as Bravo swept, Royler would get back to top position and ultimately it was an interesting battle of old school jiu-jitsu versus a more modern style. For a guy that purports to teach NoGi/UFC/MMA style submission grappling, Eddie's pants, ankle wraps, and leggings I would assume kinda make that claim a bit disingenuous. I give him all the credit he deserves for showing he has legit grappling skills, but don't call it NoGi if you're pretty layered up from the waist down.
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