Tag: Kron Gracie

On Rank, Resumes, and Arm Bars — The Simple Reason Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Still Matters in MMA


(The Gracies proved that BJJ is indispensable — not that it’s invincible. / Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in mixed martial arts has been on my mind a bit more than usual lately. A few weeks ago Benson Henderson walked to the ring wearing a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gi with his brand new black belt tied around it at the waist.

Minutes later he walked out, his black belt still in tow but without his UFC lightweight title belt after getting submitted by an arm bar from inside the full guard of Anthony Pettis. At the time, Pettis was ranked as a blue belt — the belt just above white in BJJ.

Not many weeks prior to that, Roger Gracie, the most dominant submission grappling competitor in decades, lost his UFC debut and then was promptly dropped from the organization. This past Saturday, Roger’s cousin Rolles – son of legendary Rolls Gracie – got knocked out in the second round of his WSOF 5 fight with Derrick Mehmen in tragically comic fashion.

Rolles got hit, the punch put him out on his feet and he spun around slowly before falling to the ground. It looked like the slapstick “Flair Flop” move that pro wrestler Ric Flair used to pull off after getting hit to put over his opponent. Three and a half years ago, of course, Rolles humiliated himself against Joey Beltran in his lone UFC fight after appearing to exhaust himself almost immediately.

Both recent Gracie losses brought about public questions of whether or not the Gracie family and Jiu Jitsu itself have become outdated in modern MMA. Henderson’s submission loss to Pettis could have been seen as a triumph of Jiu Jitsu technique but instead, some critics chose to question the validity and use of BJJ belt ranks.

What did Henderson’s black belt mean, exactly, if he could go out and get submitted by someone with a lower BJJ rank, who was more known for high-flying kicks than anything, and with such a basic move? The notions that Gracies losing fights and Henderson getting submitted somehow reflect negatively on Jiu Jitsu itself are, of course, silly.

MMA isn’t about magical styles and secrets solely in the possession of those with certain-colored pieces of clothing or particular surnames. It never has been.


(The Gracies proved that BJJ is indispensable — not that it’s invincible. / Photo via Getty)

By Elias Cepeda

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in mixed martial arts has been on my mind a bit more than usual lately. A few weeks ago Benson Henderson walked to the ring wearing a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gi with his brand new black belt tied around it at the waist.

Minutes later he walked out, his black belt still in tow but without his UFC lightweight title belt after getting submitted by an arm bar from inside the full guard of Anthony Pettis. At the time, Pettis was ranked as a blue belt — the belt just above white in BJJ.

Not many weeks prior to that, Roger Gracie, the most dominant submission grappling competitor in decades, lost his UFC debut and then was promptly dropped from the organization. This past Saturday, Roger’s cousin Rolles – son of legendary Rolls Gracie – got knocked out in the second round of his WSOF 5 fight with Derrick Mehmen in tragically comic fashion.

Rolles got hit, the punch put him out on his feet and he spun around slowly before falling to the ground. It looked like the slapstick “Flair Flop” move that pro wrestler Ric Flair used to pull off after getting hit to put over his opponent. Three and a half years ago, of course, Rolles humiliated himself against Joey Beltran in his lone UFC fight after appearing to exhaust himself almost immediately.

Both recent Gracie losses brought about public questions of whether or not the Gracie family and Jiu Jitsu itself have become outdated in modern MMA. Henderson’s submission loss to Pettis could have been seen as a triumph of Jiu Jitsu technique but instead, some critics chose to question the validity and use of BJJ belt ranks.

What did Henderson’s black belt mean, exactly, if he could go out and get submitted by someone with a lower BJJ rank, who was more known for high-flying kicks than anything, and with such a basic move? The notions that Gracies losing fights and Henderson getting submitted somehow reflect negatively on Jiu Jitsu itself are, of course, silly.

MMA isn’t about magical styles and secrets solely in the possession of those with certain-colored pieces of clothing or particular surnames. It never has been.

Royce Gracie won the early UFC’s because of his Jiu Jitsu style, true. His style, Gracie Jiu Jitsu, or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu won him his bouts, but not because it was mystical. Quite the opposite, actually.

Jiu Jitsu succeeded simply because it a) calls for real, hard sparring with resistance every day, b) because it was the only style to at least recognize that anything can happen in a fight, and c) because Gracie was the only guy who was practicing Jiu Jitsu in the UFC at the time.

Gracie may have been the smallest and weakest guy in the early UFC tournaments but he was the only one who trained each day against resisting opponents and was ready for people to punch, kick, grab, head butt, and pull hair. So, the most prepared guy won those early UFC’s.

In modern MMA, it’s largely the same thing. The most prepared, well-rounded and conditioned man or woman usually wins.

In that way, not as much has changed since those early days of MMA. The conventional wisdom about what the early UFC’s proved about Gracie Jiu Jitsu is wrong.

Royce Gracie and UFC’s 1-4 did not prove that Jiu Jitsu is dominant but rather that it is indispensable. You could have ancient secrets from Chinese monasteries and do one-finger push ups but you’d better be experienced in real combat.

You could be a game, hard-hitting boxer with great sense of distance and timing but you’d better be ready for someone to grab you and no ref there to save you by breaking up the clinch. You could be an outrageously strong and conditioned wrestler, used to working on the mat and man-handling opponents, but you’d better recognize that in the real world it isn’t illegal for your opponent to choke you or twist on that shoulder lock until you say uncle.

Many fight-styles and disciplines existed for ages but the introduction of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the world is what made Mixed Martial Arts. Royce Gracie showed that you needed to train BJJ to be successful in real fighting.

That’s still true to this day. Every amateur and professional MMA fighter trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu whether they call it that or catch fighting or submission grappling or what have you.

Proving BJJ necessary in real fighting is the long-ago established success of the Gracie family, much more so than any particular win by Royce or anyone else in their clan.

As for Henderson losing to Pettis, one guy was better that night than the other. That’s it.

Henderson, black belt or not, decided to let his arm hang out in a dangerous position in Pettis’ guard for no apparent reason other than his supreme confidence in his own slipperiness, and he paid for it.

Fighters make mistakes and, sometimes, their opponents make them pay for it.

No one questions whether a boxer who has spent his entire life training is a “real” boxer or whether or not boxing is useful for fighting when he gets hit with a straight right – a “basic” punch. More often than not, it is only the basics – executed with impeccable timing, that work in real fights.

And, only real fights show who is, in fact, better and should be ranked higher. A Jiu Jitsu belt, given to a hard working and accomplished student from a reputable and credible instructor can be a very meaningful and representative thing. But, in the words of Royce, the only thing a belt will do for you when push comes to shove is hold your pants up.

Getting submitted in and of itself doesn’t mean that Henderson shouldn’t feel proud of his black belt. However, submitting Henderson should definitely make Pettis damn proud of his blue belt.

As for Roger and Rolles, they also just lost to better fighters. That’s it.

Roger is no disappointment. In Tim Kennedy, he came up against a better, far more experienced and well-rounded fighter who, like all MMA fighters, has been studying Gracie’s family style for years. Overall, Roger has a solid 6-2 record in three weight classes, and has beaten former world champs and UFC and Pride veterans like Kevin Randleman, Yuki Kondo, Trevor Prangley and Keith Jardine.

Rolles is 8-2 in his MMA career in a number of different international organizations and all of his wins were by submission. Of course, Rolles and Roger face increased scrutiny because of their last names and because they are so accomplished in submission grappling competition.

Both Roger and Rolles are wizards in Jiu Jitsu competitions but probably will never become champions in MMA. “See?” one can hear sour critics of Jiu Jitsu taunt. “Winning world titles in submission grappling doesn’t make you the best fighter in the world anymore.”

Of course it doesn’t. The thing is, winning submission grappling world titles doesn’t make them the best BJJ practitioners or representatives, either. These guys are not the best BJJ practitioners any more than great boxers or kick boxers are the best strikers.
The best striker is a fighter who can land those same punches and kicks against people who are not just trying to hit them but also take them down, choke them, etc.

As such, the best grapplers, then, are the ones who do it effectively in MMA – not just win gold at Jiu Jitsu tournaments. There are plenty of examples of that in MMA.

Rolles and Roger have grappled since they were children and accomplished much in the submission grappling world. They don’t deserve derision for not being perfect in MMA, they deserve some respect for being brave enough to fight guys who have been fighting in the sport for much longer.

That said, the current and next generation of MMA champions are all fighters who have trained Jiu Jitsu and just about everything else since they were kids and haven’t wasted too much of their youth and abilities in contests where strikes, slams, etc. are not allowed. On that note, the son of perhaps Jiu Jitsu’s best practitioner ever recently announced plans to make his MMA debut within the year.

Kron Gracie, the youngest son of Rickson Gracie, told Tatame magazine that he’ll fight MMA in 2014. The twenty five year-old has medaled at the ADCC submission grappling world championships but has yet to win a world title since becoming a black belt.
Kron does have an attitude and approach to Jiu Jitsu that should suit him well for MMA. He’s also young enough to make the transition, and has been doing MMA sparring with some of the best fighters in the world for some time now.

Kron is close with Nate and Nick Diaz and has worked with them extensively, as well as their teammates Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez. When I spoke with Kron last May as he prepared to compete in the submission grappling event Metamoris II, his mind was already on MMA.

He was with Nate as he spoke to me about “real” Jiu Jitsu. “Jiu Jitsu is about what works in fighting,” he told me as he explained why, even in submission grappling matches, he never goes for the types of fancy, esoteric moves that so many other Jiu Jitsu competitors favor these days.

Kron told Tatame about fighting in MMA, “It’s a truer fight, there’s no guard… It’s you and another man going to war. It’s truer than jiu-jitsu.”

Here’s what separates guys like Kron, or BJ Penn or Demian Maia from other Jiu Jitsu-based athletes. Since BJJ began to be a big-money pursuit, medal stands have become stacked with great athletes who have dozens of world titles but have never thrown or taken a punch.

They claim that submission grappling tournaments showcase more elegant, technical displays than the stuff we see work in MMA fights. That BJJ matches are somehow more pure demonstrations of Jiu Jitsu.

They’ve got it all wrong. Before there were a million different grappling organizations — all with their claim to being “world championships,” and each with their own volumes of rules and all the moves that are not allowed — Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed and used in the real world, in real fights.

Kron Gracie, Penn, Maia and the like all went the submission grappling international tournament route for a time, sure. They’re fun, you can make some money if you’re good, and it’s excellent training.

Ultimately, however, they craved something more. They craved what Jiu Jitsu was developed for – the fight.

Submission grapplers are often referred to as Jiu Jitsu “players,” as if they played basketball or baseball or some other entertaining but ultimately useless sport. Before there were ever Jiu Jitsu players, however, there were only Jiu Jitsu fighters.

Some of them remain. Some, like Kron and his father and grandfather before him, know that if they train Jiu Jitsu, their destiny is to fight in the sport that Jiu Jitsu created.

Successes, Straw Men & False Choices: Looking Back (And Forward) in the Aftermath of Metamoris II

(Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu discusses his disappointing draw against Brendan Schaub, backstage after the event. Video via YouTube.com/CagePotato)

By Elias Cepeda

The six-match Metamoris II Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational card from two weekends ago produced some good action in a number of matches and not great action in others.

The main event, however, left everyone but Shinya Aoki satisfied. The Japanese MMA lightweight and submission ace went up against one of the top submission grappling competitors in the world, Kron Gracie.

The match produced the event’s only submission, with Shinya losing fast to Kron via guillotine choke. With how effective Aoki has been with submissions in MMA, it is fascinating to see him lose to Kron in a similar way to how he lost to all-time great Marcelo Garcia a few years ago at ADCC.

Shinya knows he can make his submissions work against guys who punch and kick him, whereas Kron and Marcelo have less assurance of that right now given their limited MMA experience. However, with strikes removed, Aoki is no match for the likes of Gracie and Garcia, likely because they are able to spend all of their training time on grappling, instead of having to split their time between that and the many other things you need to do in MMA.

The main event finished furiously and in exciting fashion but Kron and Aoki did spend the opening few minutes on their feet, hand fighting with not much happening. Apparently Kron wanted it to go to the ground, however, because eventually he chose to jump full guard in order to get it there.

Once Kron forced it to the ground, he made short work of the MMA fighter Aoki.

Stalling – The Controversy

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu could have done the same against the vilified Brendan Schaub, but did not. I’m not saying that Schaub was going for the win in his match and one could criticize him for that, but he certainly isn’t the only one to blame for he and Abreu’s uneventful match.

“Cyborg” told us after the match that he was angry. Hell, he told everyone as much while still on the mat, criticizing Schaub for not engaging with him enough.


(Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu discusses his disappointing draw against Brendan Schaub, backstage after the event. Video via YouTube.com/CagePotato)

By Elias Cepeda

The six-match Metamoris II Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational card from two weekends ago produced some good action in a number of matches and not great action in others.

The main event, however, left everyone but Shinya Aoki satisfied. The Japanese MMA lightweight and submission ace went up against one of the top submission grappling competitors in the world, Kron Gracie.

The match produced the event’s only submission, with Shinya losing fast to Kron via guillotine choke. With how effective Aoki has been with submissions in MMA, it is fascinating to see him lose to Kron in a similar way to how he lost to all-time great Marcelo Garcia a few years ago at ADCC.

Shinya knows he can make his submissions work against guys who punch and kick him, whereas Kron and Marcelo have less assurance of that right now given their limited MMA experience. However, with strikes removed, Aoki is no match for the likes of Gracie and Garcia, likely because they are able to spend all of their training time on grappling, instead of having to split their time between that and the many other things you need to do in MMA.

The main event finished furiously and in exciting fashion but Kron and Aoki did spend the opening few minutes on their feet, hand fighting with not much happening. Apparently Kron wanted it to go to the ground, however, because eventually he chose to jump full guard in order to get it there.

Once Kron forced it to the ground, he made short work of the MMA fighter Aoki.

Stalling – The Controversy

Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu could have done the same against the vilified Brendan Schaub, but did not. I’m not saying that Schaub was going for the win in his match and one could criticize him for that, but he certainly isn’t the only one to blame for he and Abreu’s uneventful match.

“Cyborg” told us after the match that he was angry. Hell, he told everyone as much while still on the mat, criticizing Schaub for not engaging with him enough.

I asked “Cyborg” why, though — once he realized Schaub didn’t want to engage on the ground with him — he didn’t go for more take downs? He also could have tried to pull a tight guard, as Kron did.

In his answer, Abreu did bring up a good point about Schaub not engaging much on the feet either and backing up to the edge of the mat constantly. If he kept pressing for take downs at the edge of the mat, he said, they’d surely fall a good four or five feet down straight onto the concrete that surrounded the mat. He’s kind of right. We’ll get back to that point in a bit.

First, though, in a recently posted video, Metamoris boss Ralek Gracie seemed to continue the criticism of Schaub — who studies with Ralek’s brother. Listen, Schaub has a UFC fight in July. That’s how he makes a living. His UFC name and record is why you were even interested in including him at Metamoris II.

You want to bring Schaub in to increase the visibility of your event because he’s a UFC fighter? Fine. But don’t be naïve about what type of match he’d put on against a guy like Abreu, especially so close to a fight of his.

Schaub told us that Dana White gave him permission to compete in Metamoris on one condition — that he not get hurt. How else could you even begin to try and ensure that you didn’t get hurt against a guy who is trained to strangle and maim you other than to not go very hard against him and be very conservative?

Schaub says he loves Jiu Jitsu and did Metamoris to give back and to see how a top Jiu Jitsu player felt. He accomplished both things.

Ticket sales and energy around and at the event were no doubt increased by Schaub taking part, as a foil, a villain even. Schaub went in there simply to see if he could survive for twenty minutes. Most of us thought he’d be submitted in just a few, including this writer.

Post-match, we also asked “Cyborg”, considering how angry he told us he was at Schaub, if he’d consider going into MMA to fight Schaub as Schaub had gone into grappling to face him. Obviously, Abreu would be a long way away from getting to the point where he’d earn such a fight, but it was a question of principle.

“Cyborg” claimed he was enraged but was he actually “fighting mad?”

The black belt was kind of tepid with his response, though ultimately he said that he was.

“I’m a Jiu Jitsu fighter,” Abreu said, meaning he competes in matches where no strikes are allowed, exclusively. “MMA is not my passion. ..but if I did go into it, you can be sure I’d go after him.”

Cyborg is a beast of a dude — jacked to all heck, spends all day trying to choke people and snap limbs, yet he kind of ruled out MMA when we asked him about it. We can criticize Schaub all day long for not being so great at Jiu Jitsu and for supposedly making a mockery of this pro Jiu Jitsu event. But if we do, we ignore the fact that he makes he spends his days doing what Jiu Jitsu was made for: fighting.

I respect “Cyborg” and also wish he’d had a more engaging opponent or that he himself engaged more (laying on your back in an open guard isn’t really being active), but I also miss the days when being a “Jiu jitsu fighter,” as Cyborg called himself, meant that you, well, fought.

Dangerous Cliff

Metamoris either needs a wall, cage, or crash mats bordering its elevated matted ring, plain and simple. If they ever book someone on their cards who wrestles, it will be a nightmare.

They will either feel stymied, as “Cyborg” says he was, by the edge of the mat because they don’t want their opponent or themselves to fall four feet off the ground onto steel steps or concrete flooring, or they will keep driving for take downs as they should and someone will get hurt uncessarily.

This almost happened with the main event. Kron kept on rolling to catch Aoki in his mounted guillotine and they were about to fall off the mat when Kron wouldn’t let go (Reminiscent of his father lifting an opponent over and through ropes in a ring and then stomping him until he fell to the ground. It was awesome. Go watch old fight footage from Choke and enjoy.) And luckily for them, especially Kron, a big old Affliction-wearing type dude from the audience propped them up, prevented them from falling and Gracie got the tap. That’s like an assist from a fan in the outfield knocking a home run ball back into the field for a fielder to catch and make a game winning out.

There is no indication that Metamoris brass are reconsidering the elevated, un-walled ring concept. In his recent video, however, Metamoris founder Ralek Gracie did vaguely outline some changes that will be coming in the next Metamoris edition.

Metamoris Pro touts itself as a submission-only event. Accordingly, the first event was held without points and judges.

The only way to win was with a submission. If no one got one, the match was a draw.

Metamoris II matches did not have points scored, either, but there were judges. Sure, Ralek says that he believes the presence of judges contributed to tentative fighting at Metamoris II but the idea was a disaster philosophically even before the event took place.

Who the judges were was not widely known. Where they sat wasn’t either, and without points being scored, only the most vague judging criteria was given. The competency and potential conflicts of interest for judges was impossible for the public to evaluate with this way of doing things. And, at the end of matches it was anyone’s guess whether a decision would be rendered and why.

Ralek also pointed out that match-making was also to blame for less than thrilling bouts. Yup. You’ve got to bring people like Kron Gracie, Shinya Aoki, Mackenzie Dern, and Michelle Nicolini — competitors who always fight aggressively — in and pair them up if you want exciting fights.

Those are two legitimate and possibly impactful areas for Metamoris to change/improve upon. Ralek’s other ideas for improvement, however, seem reactionary and as misguided as the idea of including judges for Metamoris II was.

Ralek says that he wants to bring in yellow cards to future Metamoris matches which referees can issue for stalling. He doesn’t say what the penalty would be or what specific criteria might be used for determining “stalling.”

Yellow cards in fight sports have always been a bad idea. Referees should focus on keeping fighters safe and ensuring that rules are followed and that time is kept. That’s it.

You start giving refs the additional responsibility of ensuring a certain pace of competition and you make the fighters less safe and compromise the integrity of the competition itself.

One thing that Metamoris fighters could be given yellow cards is for holding on to grips for too long. A grip-holding shot clock of sorts is another one of Ralek’s ideas.

We agree with our friend Renato Laranja that some matches at Metamoris II looked like two guys fighting for grips on the sheets, but this type of restriction on what is allowed during matches would also compromise the integrity of the competition.

When we spoke with Ralek in advance of Metamoris II, he told us that the beauty of Metamoris is that it would allow grapplers complete freedom, short of striking, to use whatever techniques and tactics they wanted to ensure victory. What all grappling competitions, including Metamoris, need are less restrictions, not more.

You want to eliminate the ridiculous death-grip tactics that are infecting gi Jiu Jitsu matches? Take the gi off at Metamoris events. Speaking of action, the gi only slows down matches.

Or, if Metamoris is to keep gi matches, at least be bold enough to jettison the silly IBJJF rules that prohibit even expert practitioners from using very effective submission techniques. Heel hooks and neck cranks, for example.

It’s one thing to grab a gi grip and sit flat on your back with a De La Riva guard for three minutes, or pull 50/50 guard and stall when your opponent can’t twist your heel and submit you as they should be allowed to. Try that nonsense when your opponent can go for any hold that works and you’ll soon see competitors scrambling more and stalling less.

Taking away judges, making good matches and liberalizing the rules to actually include the full repertoire of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques is all Metamoris really needs to be even better. The event is a good concept and has been pretty well executed thus far.

If it stays true to its mission, Metamoris has the potential to help prevent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from becoming the Tae Kwon Do of grappling fight styles. If not, it will just become part of the problem.

Paying elite grapplers like the professionals they are and matching them up is a great thing and we support it. Hopefully the next Metamoris event will learn from the right lessons and not overreact to made-up ones.

VIDEO: Kron Gracie vs. Shinya Aoki at Metamoris II — Main Event [w/FULL EVENT RESULTS]

And now for something completely different.

Here at CagePotato, we were fortunate enough to secure a ton of great interviews with the participants, the crossover stars, the headliners, and even the founder of Metamoris II, Ralek Gracie, thanks to Elias Cepeda’s tireless work (he actually managed to secure a few video interviews at the event as well, which we will have up soon). We discussed what is was like to compete in a unique, submission-only based Jiu-Jitsu event such as Metamoris with everyone from “Mini Megaton” Mackenzie Dern to UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub. And yesterday, it all came to a head at Metamoris II.

The good: Kron Gracie and Shinya Aoki put on a relatively entertaining scrap in the evening’s main event, the results of which we will not spoil for you. The bad: Every other match on the PPV card tested (and exceeded) both the limits of the “submission only” pretense of the event and that of the crowd’s patience. The ugly: Brendan Schaub…we’ll get to that in a minute.

Let’s stick with the main event for now, which featured a meeting of Jiu-Jitsu masters in Gracie and Aoki (video above).

And now for something completely different.

Here at CagePotato, we were fortunate enough to secure a ton of great interviews with the participants, the crossover stars, the headliners, and even the founder of Metamoris II, Ralek Gracie, thanks to Elias Cepeda’s tireless work (he actually managed to secure a few video interviews at the event as well, which we will have up soon). We discussed what is was like to compete in a unique, submission-only based Jiu-Jitsu event such as Metamoris with everyone from “Mini Megaton” Mackenzie Dern to UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub. And yesterday, it all came to a head at Metamoris II.

The good: Kron Gracie and Shinya Aoki put on a relatively entertaining scrap in the evening’s main event, the results of which we will not spoil for you. The bad: Every other match on the PPV card tested (and exceeded) both the limits of the “submission only” pretense of the event and that of the crowd’s patience. The ugly: Brendan Schaub…we’ll get to that in a minute.

Let’s stick with the main event for now, which featured a meeting of Jiu-Jitsu masters in Gracie and Aoki (video above).

After a feeling out process that lasted roughly 4 minutes, Kron leapt into full guard and immediately got to work. Aoki was able to separate himself momentarily and appeared to be setting up one of his classic leg locks when Kron snatched up a lightning-quick guillotine. Although Aoki was initially able to roll out of it, Kron was able to re-secure an arm-in version of the choke during a scramble that nearly sent both competitors toppling off the stage. With a referee basically holding the two up, Kron cranked the guillotine from the mount and elicited the tap. There was much rejoicing.

Before we even get to Brendan Schaub vs. Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu —  a match of which my previous statement could not be applied in any way, shape, or form — we should first discuss the apparent rule change that not only distinguished Metamoris II from that of its first event, but ended up acting as a crutch in the evening’s proceedings. We are talking, of course, about judging.

You see, Metamoris originally prided itself on being a “submission only” grappling event, with any match exceeding the 20 minute time period being declared an automatic draw. However, somewhere between the first event and last night, judges were brought into the mix, because what could they possibly screw up? Adding to the pointlessness of these nameless, faceless judges was a ridiculously vague scoring system wherein “no specific order or value [is] placed on one element of the criteria over another.” Aside from eliminating the “submission only” allure of Metamoris altogether, this rule change would result in two draws where winners probably could have been declared (in Victor Estima vs. JT Torres and Michelle Nicolini vs. Mackenzie Dern) and three rather pointless decisions considering the previously established criteria of the promotion.

And then there was Brendan Schaub. Poor, dimwitted Brendan Schaub.

Heading into last night’s event, Schaub assured us that his upcoming fight with Matt Mitrione at UFC on FOX 8 would have no effect on his gameplan or mindset when competing against submission grappling champion Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu. Schaub also insisted that he wouldn’t let his ego get in the way should he find himself caught in a potentially dangerous submission, and that, “If I didn’t think I could beat this guy, I wouldn’t have taken the match. I don’t sign up for win-wins. A loss would sting. I’m here to fight for a win.” Based on his performance alone last night, it appears that Schaub was pulling the wool over our eyes for reasons we cannot yet explain.

To call Schaub’s match with Abreu an embarrassment to both himself and Metamoris in general would be…accurate, to put it lightly. When Schaub and Abreu actually engaged in the early going, “Cyborg” attempted a pair of leg locks, only to have Schaub literally scurry out of danger. For the rest of the contest, Schaub all but refused to engage Abreu in any sort of grappling exchange, simply standing by as Abreu attempted to goad him into his guard from a seated position. In short, it was a lot like watching the chess match between Antonius Block and Death, only far less entertaining and with far less at stake. It got so bad that at one point, a spectator told the brown belt TUF alum that he “might earn his blue belt one day.” We know go to Michael Kelso for a reaction…

And if Schaub’s performance wasn’t embarrassing enough by itself, his attempt to defend said performance surely was.

“I make my living in the UFC,” Schaub said. “If he takes my leg, I’m not going to be able to make a living. I’m not letting the crowd pressure get to me, if I do that, he’s taking home a leg.”

That’s great, Brendan, except that no one gives a shit what you do for a living because you chose to compete in a Jiu-Jitsu match against a BJJ champion, knowing full well that the outcome could potentially have an adverse effect on your fighting career. Simply put, if I don’t want to drink donkey semen, I don’t sign up for Fear Factor (emphasis on ”if”).

After Abreu rightfully called Schaub out for his refusal to engage, “The Hybrid” took his cluelessness to the ultimate level by stating, and I quote, “Ask Mirko Cro Cop if I don’t engage. Ask Gabriel Gonzaga.”

Dude. 

To end on a positive note, the Andre Galvao/Rafael Lovato and Braulio Estima/Rodolfo Vieira matches were like Henderson/Rua compared to the travesty that was Schaub vs. Abreu. You can check out some highlights from those scraps (and the rest of the card) here, courtesy of BloodyElbow.

Full results for Metamoris II are below.

-Kron Gracie def. Shinya Aoki via guillotine choke
-Rodolfo Vieira def. Braulio Estima via split decision
-Andre Galvao def. Rafael Lovato Jr. by unanimous decision
-Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu def. Brendan Schaub by unanimous decision
-Mackenzie Dern and Michelle Nicolini compete to a draw
-Jonathan Torres and Victor Estima compete to a draw

–J. Jones

[EXCLUSIVE] Metamoris II Headliner Kron Gracie Carries on Family Legacy


(Kron & Rickson Gracie | Photo via Moskova)

By Elias Cepeda

How do you ask a grown man to talk about a time you saw him cry? It can’t be easy, and maybe it’s not even polite. Surely an interviewer can think of other questions to ask someone — especially a fighter.

Unfortunately, in the day or so before speaking with Kron Gracie, that was the main thing I could think to ask, and to ask first. To be clear, I saw Kron cry when he was still a child, and then only from a distance.

Maybe I was mistaken and he wasn’t even truly crying.

Yeah, maybe that’s how you ask a man to talk about it — tepidly and with plenty of qualification. Probably not, but that’s how I broached the subject with the man.

It was the summer of 2000. Rickson Gracie, the champion of his family, was hosting an international Jiu Jitsu invitational. There were tournaments for every experience and ability level, as well as famous champions competing in super matches as well as milling around the arena as a part of the crowd.

And then there was little Kron Gracie. He had to have been just eleven or twelve.

Kron presumably could have chosen to enjoy the whole event as a child — that is, running around with family and friends, playing. Instead, he was in a gi and on the mats.

Kron’s older sisters were pretty and did fun demonstrations with their father. Kron’s older brother, Rockson, walked around the tournament with his head shaved, tattooed and an air of seriousness, the obvious heir apparent to Rickson Gracie’s fighting legacy.

Whatever pressures his siblings surely felt, Kron was the one on the mats that day, competing.

Kron competed that day and, when I saw him, he had just lost.

It couldn’t have been easy, and Rickson’s youngest child was visibly upset. Losing is never fun but when everyone is watching you because your dad is the best fighter in fighting’s first family, it has to be miserable. Rickson, walked over to Kron, put his arms around him and consoled his young son.


(Kron & Rickson Gracie | Photo via Moskova)

By Elias Cepeda

How do you ask a grown man to talk about a time you saw him cry? It can’t be easy, and maybe it’s not even polite. Surely an interviewer can think of other questions to ask someone — especially a fighter.

Unfortunately, in the day or so before speaking with Kron Gracie, that was the main thing I could think to ask, and to ask first. To be clear, I saw Kron cry when he was still a child, and then only from a distance.

Maybe I was mistaken and he wasn’t even truly crying.

Yeah, maybe that’s how you ask a man to talk about it — tepidly and with plenty of qualification. Probably not, but that’s how I broached the subject with the man.

It was the summer of 2000. Rickson Gracie, the champion of his family, was hosting an international Jiu Jitsu invitational. There were tournaments for every experience and ability level, as well as famous champions competing in super matches as well as milling around the arena as a part of the crowd.

And then there was little Kron Gracie. He had to have been just eleven or twelve.

Kron presumably could have chosen to enjoy the whole event as a child — that is, running around with family and friends, playing. Instead, he was in a gi and on the mats.

Kron’s older sisters were pretty and did fun demonstrations with their father. Kron’s older brother, Rockson, walked around the tournament with his head shaved, tattooed and an air of seriousness, the obvious heir apparent to Rickson Gracie’s fighting legacy.

Whatever pressures his siblings surely felt, Kron was the one on the mats that day, competing.

Kron competed that day and, when I saw him, he had just lost.

It couldn’t have been easy, and Rickson’s youngest child was visibly upset. Losing is never fun but when everyone is watching you because your dad is the best fighter in fighting’s first family, it has to be miserable. Rickson, walked over to Kron, put his arms around him and consoled his young son.

These days, Kron Gracie is a black belt international competitor — recognized as one of the best middleweights in the submission grappling world. I ask if he remembers that one match, an eternity ago and surely insignificant by now in the grand scheme of his career.

He does.

“I remember every moment of that match,” Kron tells CagePotato.

“I remember training for it, I remember everything he tried, everything I tried, and I remember losing.”

Kron had competed for years but says that his dad’s tournament was the first time he had trained with real focus. The let-down was rough.

“I felt pressure to do well. All eyes were on me,” Kron details.

If the young Gracie remembers vividly the hollow feeling of defeat, the memory of his father comforting him is equally as strong. “I remember every word he told me,” he says. “He just told me that it was alright and that I’d be ok.”

How Kron got from there to today, where he makes a living teaching and competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is respected as having one of the best pure styles in all of submission grappling is no doubt complex and layered. Having his father’s unconditional support and guidance must have been a big part.

It also seems possible that Kron learned to convert pressure and pain into hard work and excellence. Though he remembers every detail of that loss at his father’s tournament in 2000, one can only imagine how small that pain was in comparison to what he and his family went through later that same year.

Rickson’s oldest child Rockson died in December of 2000. Rickson never fought professionally again and has cited that moment as the lowest of his life.

“Deep down, you see a reason to shoot yourself in the head, to stop doing the right thing, to stop being a happy person. You may want to fools yourself, thinking ‘it’s bad, but I can take it,’ and that’s the kind of lack of honesty that will never cure the wound. I hit rock bottom and decided, deep down, whether I would come back to the surface or not,” Rickson told GracieMag in a 2010 interview.

Rickson clearly did go forward and, to this day, trains and teaches. Kron doesn’t talk to us about his brother’s death specifically but does say that shortly after the summer 2000 tournament, he began to see life and Jiu Jitsu a bit differently.

“I was raised around winning and championships so it was kind of always expected,” Kron says.

“Not long after that tournament, I began to take it more seriously and see myself having a future in Jiu Jitsu, in making it my career. Things happen in life and you decide it is time to step up and become a man.”

That is heady stuff for a kid to take on but Kron did — training and competing constantly. He dominated the ranks all the way through the brown belt class, before his father awarded him his black belt in 2008.

Thus far, he has yet to win a major world championship at black belt but has managed to stand out nonetheless. At the first Metamoris competition, last fall, Kron submitted the reigning middleweight Jiu Jitsu world champion, Otavio Sousa.

Ordinarily, matches are ten minutes long and points are scored to decide a winner if no one can finish with a submission. At Metamoris matches, there are no points and if you want to assure a win, you need to get a submission during the twenty minute matches.

Kron’s style fits the Metamoris format well because of the finality it requires for victory. Kron hardly ever uses a move that a first year Brazilian Jiu Jitsu student wouldn’t begin to learn.

He’s all substance and aggression, with no flash. The idea, his father’s idea that Kron has adopted, is to do the simple things right — with proper leverage and weight distribution applied to your opponent.

“If we spend doing techniques in Jiu Jitsu competition that wouldn’t work in a real fight, what is the point?” Kron asks.

That approach to Jiu Jitsu — to learn it as a fighting art, not just a pretty looking exercise without purpose or consequence, is all Rickson Gracie. Over the course of his career, Kron’s father fought in gis on the mats, speedos on the beach, shorts in packed arenas and in whatever he happened to be wearing when business needed to be settled on the street.


(Kron has been training MMA with Nate (left) and Nick (right) Diaz | Photo via GracieMag)

Kron seems in the midst of trying to prove he can become the best in the non-striking submission grappling world. Yet, the philosophy he’s adopted from his father and grandfather Helio Gracie that Jiu Jitsu is for fighting and fighting effectively, begs the question of whether he’d consider carrying on their fighting legacy himself.

I ask Kron if he thinks he will ever fight in MMA and his answer is to the point. “Yes,” he says, without doubt. “I will absolutely fight.”

At the Metamoris II Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational on June 9th, Kron will take on one of the best Jiu Jitsu representatives in MMA, Shinya Aoki. Kron’s desire to fight MMA and his pairing with Aoki is no coincidence.

“Totally,” he says when asked if he expects grappling against Aoki to give him a taste of how he might fare against top MMA grapplers.

“That’s why I wanted this match up with Aoki. I have so much respect for his Jiu Jitsu game in MMA. He has submitted so many people at the top levels of MMA. I want to see what he feels like. I want to see how my Jiu Jitsu matches up against his. I believe in my Jiu Jitsu and that it will work in MMA, but I am not looking past Aoki at all. I think this match will give me an idea of what some of these guys feel like.”

Kron already has a decent idea of what it feels like to lock horns with some top MMA fighters. As he talks with CagePotato, Nate Diaz sits nearby. Diaz is helping Kron train for Metamoris II.

Kron says he’s been working with both Nate and brother Nick Diaz frequently, and not just on submission grappling. Kron was in Nick Diaz’ corner when he faced Georges St. Pierre earlier this year, in fact.

“Nate is here helping me prepare for Aoki,” Kron says. “I’ve gotten to work with him and Nick a lot now and it’s great.”

Kron says that he gets in MMA work with the Diaz brothers as well as grappling. “Oh yeah, for sure,” he says, sounding as if getting to spar MMA with elite fighters is much of the point of his training with the Diaz brothers.

“We do a lot of work and all types.”

Kron’s intensity leading up to matches is certainly that of someone who takes winning and losing seriously. However, the reckless abandon with which he competes suggests someone who doesn’t fear loss.

Many high level grapplers have unbearably boring matches when pitted against one another. Wary of making even the tiniest mistake which their opponent can seize on, many black belt matches are cautious, careful and horrible to watch.

Turn on a Kron Gracie match, any one, and you’ll see the furthest thing from that type of match. He drives, scrambles, pivots and spins, all in constant search of a submission win. Kron grapples with the sense of urgency of a man fighting for his life — which, he might say, is kind of the point.

Kron speaks as someone who not only carries the pressure of being the son of the greatest Jiu Jitsu fighter of all time, but also as one who possesses the confidence from a lifetime of personal instruction from that same master.

Beat me, if you can. And if you do, watch your back because I’ll get better and come back for you.

“It isn’t that I don’t care about losing,” Kron explains. “But all you can do is train the right way leading up to a fight, and then let go and go hard in the fight. The point of a fight is to see who the better guy is. I hate losing. But if I go out there, give it everything I have and lose, then the guy is better than me. If I don’t let it all out on the mat, I won’t ever know who truly was the better man that day.”

You’re born with pressure to be great when you’re born a Gracie. At the same time, putting that yolk around your neck and facing conflict and tests head-on is modeled for you.

Maybe that’s part of why Kron Gracie decided at an early age to run right into the fire, perhaps not unaffected or unafraid, but at least unflinching. And, if over time, Kron becomes one of the great ones, that decision will probably be why and how he got there.

Shinya Aoki vs. Kron Gracie to Headline Metamoris Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational II on June 9th; Braulio Estima, Brendan Schaub Also Featured


(Props: metamoris.com)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — it’s so hot right now. And for fans of the so-called “Gentle Art,” Metamoris’s next tournament on June 9th will be required viewing. The promotion announced its second Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational today, which will be headlined by highly decorated BJJ champion Kron Gracie against MMA submission expert (and new OneFC lightweight champ) Shinya Aoki. The event is slated to place at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, and will be available for viewing online through a live HD pay-per-view stream on Metamoris.com.

Since launching last October, Metamoris has set itself apart with marquee names from the worlds of BJJ and MMA, and a competition system that focuses only on submissions. “Jiu Jitsu tournaments have devolved, especially at the elite level, to a game based on who can score points with a sweep or dominant position in the last few seconds of a match to win,” said Metamoris founder Ralek Gracie in a press release distributed today. “I founded Metamoris to create a tournament where submissions are the only goal, not points. With the introduction of judges, we will avoid draws. Someone in a fight is always sharper. And now, the fighter who controls the bout with technique, the fighter who shows more varied and frequent submission acquisition, will get his hand raised.”

Five more bouts have already been booked for the 6/9 lineup. They are…


(Props: metamoris.com)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — it’s so hot right now. And for fans of the so-called “Gentle Art,” Metamoris’s next tournament on June 9th will be required viewing. The promotion announced its second Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational today, which will be headlined by highly decorated BJJ champion Kron Gracie against MMA submission expert (and new OneFC lightweight champ) Shinya Aoki. The event is slated to place at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, and will be available for viewing online through a live HD pay-per-view stream on Metamoris.com.

Since launching last October, Metamoris has set itself apart with marquee names from the worlds of BJJ and MMA, and a competition system that focuses only on submissions. “Jiu Jitsu tournaments have devolved, especially at the elite level, to a game based on who can score points with a sweep or dominant position in the last few seconds of a match to win,” said Metamoris founder Ralek Gracie in a press release distributed today. “I founded Metamoris to create a tournament where submissions are the only goal, not points. With the introduction of judges, we will avoid draws. Someone in a fight is always sharper. And now, the fighter who controls the bout with technique, the fighter who shows more varied and frequent submission acquisition, will get his hand raised.”

Five more bouts have already been booked for the 6/9 lineup. They are…

– Three-time world champion and 2009 ADCC world champion Braulio Estima vs. five-time World Cup champion Rodolfo Vieria.

– UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub vs. three-time No-Gi World Champion Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu.

– Six-time world champion Michelle Nicolini vs. 20-year-old phenom MacKenzie Dern.

– 2012 World Cup gold medalist Andre Galvao vs. Rafael Lovato Jr., the second American in history to win the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship as a black belt.

– Pam-Am gold-medalist and 27-time Grappler’s Quest champ Bill “The Grill” Cooper vs. restaurant vigilante Ryan Hall.

Tickets for Metamoris Pro Jiu Jitsu Invitational II go on sale April 22nd at Ticketmaster. In the meantime, check out this gnarly highlight reel from Metamoris 1.


(Props: YouTube.com/metamoris)