Metamoris president Ralek Gracie recently talked to Vice.com about his plans for Metamoris, how he didn’t want the Chael Sonnen vs Amdre Galvao fight to be the main event and how he is bringing in title fights:
“Fightland: Chael Sonnen was released by UFC and Fox this week after failing a second drug test. How do you feel about having him headline your next event?
Ralek Gracie: I didn’t want him to be the main event. It just kind of turned out that way, the way he just attracts so much attention. Every news organization said he was headlining the card. We didn’t say that. It was leaked that he was on the card, and they assumed he would be headlining. That wasn’t my plan. My plan was to have him be like 4th match of the night. So, I’m still considering doing that. What do you think? You think we should just do it and have him headline it and do the last match? Generally speaking it makes sense to have the most interesting match last so people are kind of waiting for that final experience.
In terms of the skill level he doesn’t deserve to be the main event, quote unquote. So a lot of our core followers are like, aw dude… what the fuck?
He’s fighting [elite grappling champion] Andre Galvao. Andre is not joke, but [they will say] that’s easy. That’s not a good fight for him. If it were Andre versus any other top, top guy [having the match as the last fight] would make sense.
Dean Lister and Josh Barnett are a little more qualified to be the main event. The Chael Sonnen match is more of a super fight. It’s an interest match about clashing two styles.”
On Future plans for Metamoris and how Metamoris 4 will crown a new Metamoris Champion:
“We want to have weight divisions. At Metamoris 4, Dean Lister and Josh Barnett are actually fighting for a title. We didn’t want to over publicize that too much. We want someone to get the belt, because then we want Buchecha to come in and fight the winner. It just builds to the next event. We are really excited.
We want to create grappling titles, because there are some guys out there that are really solid jiu jitsu technicians that are not getting enough respect. I think we need to create titles because I think that connects with people and provides a way for people to appreciate grappling in a different way.
I am interested in creating an experience that you want to take your wife or your friends to. Our goal is to give the audience the coolest, most interesting stylistic match-ups that we can possibly put on the mat for 20 minutes of submission only grappling. We wanted to push a pure grappling event with no obstruction. It’s a very simple concept. There’s no cage, no ring…just a white mat. That’s the formula. It’s not anything new, it’s just new for grappling.
We are bringing the distillation of grappling that has disappeared with MMA. We are synonymous with MMA culture, but we want to create more of an experience for people in jiu jitsu—something they can be a part of. I really care about that.”
