Royler vs. Eddie. Photo by Metamoris
Metamoris 3 took place this Saturday afternoon, in Los Angeles, California.
Four out of the six matches ended in draws, once no fighter was able to submit his opponent.
The main event was a thrilling battle between 43-year-old Eddie Bravo and 48-year-old Royler Gracie.
Initially, Royler played on top, trying to pass Eddie’s half guard, but soon Bravo put his technique called “Eletric chair” into action and inverted the position.
Royler was even deeper in trouble when Bravo got a neck crank in place and went for the submission.
Royler was brave and calm at the same time and worked to escape and come back on top again.
Both fighters came went from top to bottom several times in the 20 minutes of match but managed to resist each other attacks.
Near the end, while their legs were all tangled up, Eddie went for a calf slicer and Royler once again resisted bravely.
The fight ended with both fighters pleased with their performances.
“I’m 48 years old and I still fight and I did better that last time!” joked Royler, referring to the 2003 match, when Bravo tapped him with a triangle choke at the ADCC, in São Paulo, Brazil.
“He is so tough! No one resists the vaporizer like he did!”said Bravo, who went on to thank the crowd for the support.
Ralek Gracie came on the stage and asked the crowd if they wanted to see another match between the two.
The audience was unanimous, but both fighters said they would have to talk about it.
In the other five matches of the day, some good moments and two submissions.
Gi – Zak Maxwell vs. Sean Roberts (Draw)
Newcomers Sean Roberts and Zak Maxwell opened the card with exciting gi action.
Roberts started out better and almost got a choke on, but later in the match Zak was more active and almost finished the fight with an armbar.
Gi – Guilherme Mendes vs. Samir Chantre (Gui by baseball choke)
Gui put his gameplan to work from the beginning.
He swept Samir, worked the pass and went for the baseball choke.
Chantre defended well the first time, but had no choice but tapping at the second attempt.
The match was over in seven minutes.
No-Gi – Dean Lister vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (draw)
The big guys on the card also did a great job in the 20 minutes they had to showcase their talents.
Now retired from MMA, Babalu had some trouble in the beginning with Lister’s famous ankle locks but was able to spin out of it.
On the last 10 minutes, Babalu managed to make the fight more even and also went from some nice submission attempts.
Lister seemed to be in trouble at least in one of the d’arce chokes Babalu set up during the match.
In the end, another draw and the recognition from the crowd.
No-Gi – Keenan Cornelius vs. Kevin Casey (Keenan by heel hook)
Vinny Magalhães was disqualified by the event’s doctor due to a serious case of staph infection.
With a 30-minute notice, MMA fighter and UFC veteran Kevin Casey stepped up to the chance of being part of the show.
Keenan Cornelius adapted quickly to the change of opponent and went for the win with a good guard game.
With a little over the half of the time gone, he went for a heel hook from the 50/50 guard to end the match and get the win.
The crowd applauded Cornelius for the win and Casey for the courage of fighting on an unbelievable short notice.
Gi – Rafael Mendes vs. Clark Gracie (draw)
Some 15lb lighter, Rafael Mendes relied completely on his technique to outsmart Clark Gracie.
He went right away to his berimbolo game and Clark was in trouble with less than 30s on the clock.
The Gracie was able to maintain his cool and defended the hooks and neck to stay in the match.
Rafael repeated the strategy a few times but was unable to get to where he wanted to go.
The match ended with no winner and Rafael clearly much more disappointed than Clark.
