Ralek Gracie — the grandson of BJJ founder, Helio Gracie, and the creator of the submission competition, Metamoris — is set to take on veteran Danaher Death Squad member Gordon Ryan this weekend at Metamoris Challenge: Gracie vs Ryan.
Gracie called out Ryan, and Ryan not only graciously (pun intended) accepted, but promised to tap Ralek out in 10 to 18 minutes via a triangle or arm bar.
Gordon Ryan wasn’t Ralek’s first choice, though. That honor went to longtime rival and one of the most controversial men in BJJ, AJ Agazarm:
“I called out AJ initially because I thought he would want the opportunity to help cover the athletes he screwed over when he pirated our M7 event to 100k people, live. Plus I would love to legally choke him for what he did,” Gracie told the Jiu-Jitsu Times. “10% of that number in sales would have covered our debt and he would have been better off telling people on his social media to support the PPV if he really wanted us to “pay our athletes”. But he didn’t want us to pay our athletes. He wanted us to disappear. He would not have done that if Roger and Buchecha had remained the headliner, but because I was the new headliner with Garry Tonon and was already the “bad guy” for a slew of bad press, he had an opening to make it look somewhat heroic to rob me and everyone else we owe or is otherwise associated.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbNjhv3j5X7/?taken-by=ralekvision
That’s not to say Ralek wasn’t interested in putting Gordon on the card. Indeed, Ryan is one of the most popular and deadly forces in professional BJJ, and any promoter would be a fool to pass him up. Gracie, however, had trouble finding big name fighters to go against him:
I tried to get a few other big name guys to compete against Gordon but let’s just say they were not interested. As far as Gordon, he’s tough and a great challenge and I believe I can beat him if I’m in the right head space.
I called out AJ initially because I thought he would want the opportunity to help cover the athletes he screwed over when he pirated our M7 event to 100k people, live. Plus I would love to legally choke him for what he did.
Ralek also explained that Metamoris is now focused on smaller events, saying this will help focus resources towards athletes whom he still owes money. Ralek and Metamoris have come under quite a bit of fire over the years for not paying their athletes. Gracie, however, says the athletes have been patient with him, and the “narrative” of him taking advantage of people was one created by “haters.”
Historically we have been able to put on the most exciting cards and build amazing content around the athletes in our numbered events. I think that’s what people really miss in our absence. As of right now we are focused on a series of smaller events (like Metamoris Challenge) that will help us focus available resources toward the athletes still owed and not the extravagant promotions people usually expect from Metamoris. Once we get even we will take all the lessons learned to get back on rhythm with our numbered events. The Metamoris Challenge and others will be a way for us to do some grass roots events to test new rules and give more opportunities to up and coming athletes while staying efficient.
I want to add that we never got a chance to start small with Metamoris. People want to judge me for so much but have no idea the challenges I was up against and still face being given so much but so little at the same time. That said, it’s been an incredible journey I wouldn’t take back for anything. Many athletes we owe have been very patient because they know more than most that I value their presence and got in debt trying my best to pay them and promote them as much as I could. The narrative of me taking advantage of people is one created by the haters. Still we have work to do and once this is behind us people will see the way we treated our athletes has stayed consistent with my goals and beliefs from the beginning. To me, Kron, Keenan or Rafa are the same as Kobe and Tiger, the education and access of our sport just hasn’t caught up yet.
You can catch Ralek Gracie and Gordon Ryan’s match this Sunday at 5:30pm EST on metamoris.com.
