Gordon Ryan submits Ralek Gracie with a triangle choke variation.
Gordon Ryan needed less than 11 minutes to secure a submission victory over Metamoris creator and Bellator fighter, Ralek Gracie. The superfight brought Gracie and Ryan together as an attempt to raise funds to pay fighters from past Metamoris events.
Ryan has put together a widely successful 2017 and he continued that trend on Sunday in Los Angeles. Ryan pulled guard to start the fight and Gracie went of the attack, looking for an armbar. When the attempt was unsuccessful, Gracie found himself on the defense and was unable to stop Ryan from passing his guard and improving his position. Things continued to get worse for Gracie as Ryan would take his back and lock in a tight body triangle before moving to mount.
Ryan moved to side control and continued to attack with a variety of transitions. He would eventually secure variation on a triangle from the top that forced Gracie to submit. John Danaher, Ryan’s coach, spoke openly on Instagram about a prior bet that Ryan would finish from such a position.
“On a bet placed shortly before the match [Ryan] limited himself to the sankaku (triangle) and juji gatame (armbar) attacks,” Danaher posted. “The bet was that it had to be performed between then and twelve minutes. At ten and a half minutes he secured the submission win via sankaku variation.”
Gracie has long faced criticism as many fighters complained about not receiving payments for their participation in past Metamoris events. These complaints came from lesser-known fighters, all the way to bigger names such as AJ Agazarm. This event was available via internet PPV and proceeds from the sales and ticket purchases went to pay the debts owed to other fighters.
“Thank you to Ralek Gracie for the opportunity to compete in a no time limit match and thanks to everyone who came to show support,” Ryan posted on Instagram. “And Yes! Ralek paid me every penny he was supposed to.”