Ladies and gents, for those of you privileged enough to watch Metamoris this past weekend, you were in for a huge surprise. Yes, this is a spoiler alert - meaning that if you skip over reading this, you'll be angry. As far as I am concerned, M4 surpassed all the other M's combined. We are pretty sure this event left a lot of BJJ practitioners scratching their heads and pondering not only the outcomes and styles within the event, but also trying to figure out WTF Ryron Gracie is talking about.
So the matchups and the winners:Garry Tonen v Kit Dale:A quick back and forth with Kit on top, Tonnen scrambles for the back and grabs a sneaky front choke in the transition. Kit flips over to escape, but Tonnen lands in mount to finish the Aussie in seconds!
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Saulo Ribeiro vs Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros:A super technical standup match between two legends of the game. Obviously the kimonos slowed the overall match down, but for us it was truly entertaining. Technique for technique each man fought for grips for well over half the match. Saulo hit a beautiful drop seonage about 10mins into the fight, but soon after it was back on the feet. The match ended with some exciting sweeps back and forth and ended in a draw. We are pretty sure this match left a lot of BJJ players confused as to why both men didn't flying scissor each other.
Secret Match Glover v Yoshida:![]()
In the secret match, neither opponent knew who they would face until they stepped on the mat. Hardcore fans cheered when Shoot Wrestler Yoshida was announced, and out of know where Jeff Glover jumped on the mats to face him after removing his headset and suit. The match was a display of unbelievable grappling positions, control and technique, that left us in awe. Of course Glover clowned around and gave up position several times to somehow wind up in threatening spots. The back and forth was both entertaining and super technical. Ryron Gracie made a surprise cameo to add his two cents and fill in for Glover, whom he did not have a whole lot of nice things to say about. What topped off the match was Ryron scolding Glover for "running away' and saying "We need to keep it realistic." Now most of you, by this point have heard the "Let's keep it fun" propaganda or the "It's about survival" speech. As with most things Gracie, I'm tired of hearing it. Keeping it realistic and survival really have no place in a submission only grappling tourneys. It's a sport, and as a sport it's not realistic, and if sports were about survival everyone would be the winner.
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Keenan v Vinny:I was super excited for this match. Both guys are incredibly strong yet very flexible and both strike with laser like precision. That was the opposite of this match. Vinny kept top pressure with a bit of hesitation to engage in the spinny-spinny-worm-abolo. Vinny quickly locked up a nasty heelhook in transition that would have tapped 99% of people. I guess Keenan is that 1%. Anyway, Keenan played footsies for the remainder of the match until he established mount and went for an armbar triangle when time ran out. Total action can be encompassed in less than a minutes time. Two high level guys who unfortunately didn't match up well and it disappointed us, aw-shucks.
Galvao v Sonnen:The much anticipated match that we all knew would end in submission. This fight was hyped from the start and rehyped with the possibility of the NSAC, intervening. In the end Sonnen landed a beautiful low single that dropped Galvao to his butt. From that point on Sonnen played patty cake until Galvao established a deathgrip and double unders to take his back and finish with the RNC.
Barnett v Lister:By far, two of my favorite grapplers aside from Sakuraba. My thoughts initially were that Lister was going to have his hands full and his leg lock game would be far from dominant vs a competitor that was not only significantly heavier than him, but also had an equal leg game. It played out just like that, Lister avoided the standup game of Barnett and pulled butterfly to guard. From here Barnett would dominate on top with incredible pressure and passing. Lister stayed strong through several bent arm lock attack and a crooked-head-scissor. With 30 seconds left, Barnett passes Lister's guard again, stops him from turning away and baits him for the head and arm kesa position. From there it's game over, Barnet locks his hands and sits out for the tap and thousands of BJJ player's heads explode. It was an incredible match that utilized pure catch wrestling for the win.
Quick Overview:Tonnen is a beast, Throws do exist in BJJ, Surprise match was amazing, Keenan and Vinny disappoint, Yoshida and Glover are awe inspiring, Barnett uses old school wrestling to sub Lister for the first time in 16 years.
M4 did not disappoint, our highlights include a diversity in style match ups as well as thinking outside the confines of just BJJ. If Metamoris continues down this path we will see more and more amazing matches with grapplers (young and old) from all disciplines participating. Events like M4 will hopefully continue to grow grappling arts for the best and make them known in the mainstream.
**And as a side note, earlier I replaced Sato for Yoshida. Yes it was a mistake, yes he is "another asian guy," but in my defense they have almost an identical background, game, and fight at the same weight. And for those idiots that still don't know who I am talking about - its Rumina Sato. Shit happens, oh well...
