Everyone who fell in love with MMA early on remembers the first time they watched an average looking Brazilian guy, whose name we couldn’t quite pronounce (is it an ‘R’ or an ‘H’?), systematically choke out a room full of behemoths, all while dressed in what appeared to be his pajamas from the night before.
Maybe it was a fluke; sure, it was a great novelty, but there was no way this was going to change how we thought about fighting. Until it happened again… and again…
Over the course of three years, Royce Gracie would win three of five tournament format UFC events. And he did it all without so much as throwing a legitimate jab.
From that point on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was the name of the game. If you couldn’t, at the very least, defend against the use of leverage and survive submission attempts, you were left by the wayside among the Patrick Smiths and Tank Abbotts of the world.
Yet, for a sport that so dramatically changed the landscape of MMA, BJJ has never found its own home in the public eye. Those in the know follow Pan Am, Mundial, and Abu Dhabi tournaments, but jiu jitsu has never made a large scale entry into the fight promotion game like its MMA cousins, Muay Thai and boxing.
For submission grappling and BJJ fans the wait is finally over. This Sunday the inaugural Metamoris card will be taking place in San Diego, CA, and will feature twelve of the world’s best BJJ practitioners competing in a series of submission only matches. Barring any last minute changes, the match ups are as follows:
Roger Gracie vs. Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida
Kayron Gracie vs. Rafael Lovato
Fans of the sport will instantly recognize this line up as a ‘who’s who’ of the BJJ world, but, for those of you who may not be completely sold on the prospect of a jiu jitsu only event, let me put the magnitude of this card in perspective.
This is the BJJ equivalent of the UFC rolling six title fights into the same event; each and every one of the men fighting at Metamoris is a multiple time champion in his prime. Imagine seeing a card composed of nothing but superfights, the dream matchups that fans have clamored over and debated amongst themselves for years.
Metamoris will make just such a scenario a reality this weekend. If you have yet to watch a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu only event, I can not stress enough just how amazing of an introduction to the sport this event is shaping up to be.
Just in case my obvious and unabashed excitement isn’t enough, check out the official Metamoris Pro trailer:
The entire card will be streaming live at 3pm PT/6pm EST on Metamoris.com, and, as always, make sure to stay tuned right here at ProMMANow.com, as we provide up-to-the-minute live coverage of the historic
event.
