Three weeks after the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Chael Sonnen from mixed martial arts for two years because of multiple failed drug tests, he will return to competition on Aug. 9th in a graapling event.
Sonnen will face BJJ and ADCC world champion Andre Galvao in Metamoris Pro 4, in Los Angeles. The format is 20-minute submission-only matches with no judges – if there is no submission after 20 minutes, a draw is declared.
Metamoris president, Ralek Gracie appeared on “Inside MMA” on the AXS TV network to defend letting Sonnen fight. He said that steroids were actually not beneficial to Jiu-Jitsu competitors:
“[W]e don’t currently test for PED’s and we are not an MMA organization. Metamoris is a grappling event with different rules and we require our own unique set of regulations for all aspects of participation.”
“With EPO that’s something I hadn’t really looked into as much. But with steroids for us in jiu-jitsu – if you’re using a lot of steroids you’re going to run out of strength, you’re going to run out of energy faster. Maybe if you’re doing a weight-lifting competition, or you’re doing a fight with three 5-minute rounds, or two 2-minute rounds, or whatever, and you’re gonna go in there and just let everything go and take a 30-second break or whatever, a minute break. With Jiu-jitsu, with 20-minute rounds in Metamoris, my stance for the most part has been, ‘Man, let’s see these guys go in there and see what they have to offer.'”
“I think the EPO thing, as far as being a boost for endurance, is messed up. We have to look into that. As a new organisation, we’re playing it. We’re trying to get as much as we can, we’re trying to put as many exciting fights together as possible and it’s a lot of work. People are blaming us, people are giving us a lot of trouble but a lot of people just want to see this interesting match-up [between Sonnen and Galvao].”
On Chael Sonnen, Gracie had this to say:
“He’s so controversial,” Ralek said of Sonnen in his interview on Inside MMA. “At the same time, everybody in our community knows that Chael is up against the works. He’s up against a huge opponent. The UFC kicks him out, it’s exciting, let’s see what he can do against Galvao. If he survives, he’s considered the winner. It’s not a title on the line. Chael’s probably on his way out like everybody’s talking about. Let’s see what we can do, let’s see if it can be something exciting. Let’s see how it goes.”
Since Metamoris isn’t testing any of its fighters for PED’s, Andre Galvao as well as all the other fighters could also potentially be juicing. At the end of the day there won’t be any real advantage for Sonnen because of the Metamoris’s policy in regards to PEDs.
Sloth Jiu-Jitsu: you can be slow and unathletic and still kick butt in Jiu-Jitsu.