Metamoris 3
Not sure if you watched Metamoris 3 live, but if you did, maybe you’re like me and found it bitter sweet. Sweet because the Royler Gracie vs Eddie Bravo match was fantastic. Even though it came to a draw, both men went for it and fought the whole time. There was action! The bitter, well, the rest of the event was. . . meh. Besides Gui Mendes and Samir Chantre, the other matches lacked that aggressive energy that can make BJJ so exciting and fun to watch. I know that points and shorter time limits can be annoying but having the threat of losing sparks a sense of urgency. You’ll move and expose yourself in ways that you wouldn’t if points and time weren’t involved. In many of the matches guys gave up takedowns, didn’t fight aggressively to get into dominant position and all in all seemed very relaxed. It was really disappointing to see some of the competitors just come out and “play”. Its like when you watch MMA and it looks like the two fighters are at a sparring session. To me most of the matches looked like casual rolls in the gym. A couple of times you would see the action spike towards the last few minutes but overall I was left with the impression that everyone was reluctant to open up. No one was upset with the draw, they seemed happy that they weren’t submitted.
The sad part was with all the talent and potential on the Metamoris 3 event it took two men in their 40s, one almost 50, to bring some aggressive action to the show. Hopefully they will adjust the rules or something to get these guys to open up, otherwise they’ll never be able to bring this kind of event to a wide audience.
In my personal opinion I think matches should be shortened rather than lengthened. Not many guys can go full speed for 20 minutes, so they wait till the time draws to a more comfortable range to open up. I know I’ve asked myself the question of, “Should I go hard right out of the gate and risk being gassed towards the end, or should I play it safe and get going towards the end of the match?” and that’s for a 10 minute match! I imagine that a 20 minute match against ultra high level competition would be a big mental obstacle.
While I like the theory of no winner unless its a submission and a longer match duration to work, all it seems to do is invite passivity because the winner-loser dynamic has been taken away. Even if you come up short, as long as you’re not submitted you don’t lose. It allows the competitors to relax in bad positions and focus on defense instead of feeling the urgency to escape which opens up opportunities for submissions. Again, this is my opinion.
I’d love to hear what other people thought about it. If you’re reading, tell me what you think of the whole thing.
Oh and I hope they get a different announcer next time.
I agree. Crazy it was the 49? and 43 year old that came out to roll. Wow what a showcase. Perhaps it was because of all that was at stake. While for the others, meh. Although I did like the Rafa match just because of him rolling like a rollypolly to try to get Clark’s back. A couple of thoughts on improvement. The people who run US Grappling no-time limit submission only event post that the avg black belt match takes 23 minutes. Brown belt is 13 minutes and goes down from there. Perhaps, metamoris should move to no-time limit but only have 2-3 matches. I mean, Eddie threw up from exhaustion after the match. Somethings gotta give. But with that no-time limit, you have to have really exciting match ups and I’m not sure if there’s that many out there available.
.That’s an interesting stat. I’ve never seen that before. Have you ever done a submission only match or tournament before?
Yeah Eddie threw up because he was going after it. His and Royler’s mindset was perfect. Attack and go for it. I’m sure no one else felt that exhausted after their match that night.
I personally don’t see a need for a 20 minute or unlimited time match for an event like Metamoris which is trying to be a show for a wide audience to watch. I believe people could care less about having the submission finish as long as both people are going after the submission. Like the Eddie/Royler match. You don’t need a finish to be exciting as long as you’re trying to finish. Similar to an MMA fight. Not every fight can end in a finish, but if both fighters are going for the finish it still ends up being fantastic match. I believe the idea of a long match duration makes most competitors play on the more cautious side. There’s no worse feeling than being deep into the match and being out of gas. It just seems like that in order to make the event digestible to more than just the hardcore BJJ fans, they need to shorten the time and place incentives for the aggressive competitors (sub bonuses, judges (BJJ BBs) to declare a winner). I think something like that would capture the excitement and the faster pace of a tournament match while eliminating the dumb rules like reaping and still keeping it no points. I know purists will argue with me about shorter time, but I don’t think you need 20 minutes to attack with your BJJ.
Just for the record, I know I sound like I’m bitching. I am really happy that a professional event is out there promoting grappling, I just want it to continue and succeed. I’d love to be able to watch this kind of thing on a more regular basis.