Ralek Gracie has just revealed that he is engaging in a new business venture and that this might ultimately lead to the return of Metamoris. He issued an announcement to his mailing list and started out by explaining his new brand, GENZAI, and what he’s been doing over the past few years. GENZAI is a “platform for premium martial arts films“ and among the first releases available on the platform is Confluence, a film that he has been developing after traveling around the world to train in a wide range of different styles of Jiu-Jitsu.
Although that project might be of interest to fans of Jiu-Jitsu, the biggest piece of information to emerge from this e-mail is the fact that Ralek Gracie is also considering spearheading the return of Metamoris. According to him: “My intention is to reconcile with all competitors and partners and bring back Metamoris sooner than later. I believe it will happen when the time is right, especially with your support.” It would definitely be a huge development in the professional grappling world if Metamoris did return, because it was at one point the biggest promotion in the sport.
Metamoris 1 brought fans the legendary match between Andre Galvao and Ryron Gracie in 2012, and the promotion only improved from that point onward as well. They continued staging fantastic events over the next few years and generated some historic moments like Josh Barnett submitting Dean Lister at Metamoris 4 in 2014. Not only did they really push the envelope in growing the world of professional grappling at a time when it was practically non-existent, but they attracted legendary older competitors like Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba.
Then everything came crashing down in 2017 when the promotion folded under the weight of accusations that they weren’t paying competitors. Ralek Gracie has been open about the financial difficulties that Metamoris experienced in the past and the money owed to competitors, but he still sees a path for the promotion to return: “I also believe that through GENZAI, Metamoris will find a chance at redemption and provide a sustainable business model where it can find a home for distribution and sponsor support.”
Ralek Gracie announced his new business venture, GENZAI, and declared his intentions to bring about the return of Metamoris in a recent e-mail sent out to his mailing list:
