The all-grappling Metamoris promotion has announced their sixth event is scheduled for May 9 in Los Angeles and features MMA veterans Chael Sonnen and Renato “Babalu” Sobral facing off in the main event. The Metamoris promotion uses a unique format to market “Submission Grappling” that encourages finishing the fight by not scoring points for positions. BetDSI is still the only book out there today to carry odds on grappling, a real niche sport from the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
The promotion is not shy about using names from the world of Mixed Martial Arts, and in bringing Chael Sonnen back for this event, they are bringing in one of MMA’s most notorious names from a few years ago. In Renato Sobral they are also getting a veteran MMA competitor who is 39 now and his name brings more nostalgia with it than anything.
Scanning their histories, in October of 2005, almost ten years ago, Sobral used a triangle choke to finish Sonnen when they fought at UFC 55. So much time has passed it is hard to put any real value on that experience. For his part especially, Sonnen is much more familiar with the submission game than he was at the time of that match, and though his MMA career has seen him get caught several times, this more methodical pace in grappling-only and his physical strength make him well suited to this format. Sonnen will likely crack against a true submission ace, but Sobral is not that.
Sobral has spent his entire adult life building a long MMA career fighting at the highest level. When he came up, he came from a muay thai background and a wrestling background, not a true jiu-jitsu or submission game. Though his ability to actually finish this fight may be more advanced than Sonnen’s, this match has twenty minute stalemate/draw written all over it.
Any match that is not finished goes to a draw after 20 minutes per the Metamoris rules, and the organization’s history shows that roughly half their fights end with no clear winner. On this one for sure, bet the draw.
