Renzo Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba Battle to a Draw at Metamoris 5

When they first locked horns fourteen years ago in Pride Fighting Championships, Kazushi Sakuraba snapped Renzo Gracie’s arm with a vicious kimura.

Gracie never tapped, but the referee stopped it, ruling it a technical submission. It was one of the best matches in the history of Pride and ever since, Renzo has sought revenge against the man known as “The Gracie Hunter.” Both legends in their own right, Sakuraba and Gracie finally waged a second war in the main event of Metamoris 5.

Both well into their 40s, the two legends expectedly took their time in their match, the majority of twhich took place with Sakuraba in Gracie’s closed guard; but once the Brazilian opened it up, that’s when things got interesting.

Renzo was able to scramble around and land in side control, where he methodically moved over to north-south position in search of a possible “revenge” kimura. The Japanese superstar defended everything Gracie did and prevented the submission. Gracie tried in vain to finish off his old rival, but Sakuraba was too savvy to fall for any tricks.

In the end, the bout was ruled a draw. The two legends shared several embraces after the match, where Gracie stated that he still plans on competing in mixed martial arts. Sakuraba was non-committal and apologized to the fans for not having a better performance.

Related: Metamoris 5 Play-by-Play

Shields-Satoshi Goes 20 Minutes

Long-time UFC veteran Jake Shields locked horns with jiu-jitsu champion Roberto Satoshi in the Metamoris 5 “Secret Match.” Though the fight was entertaining, neither man was ever in any real danger of being submitted. Shields was able to break Satoshi’s guard routinely and even achieved full mount a few times, but he was never allowed to come close to finishing the Bonsai BJJ fighter due to Satoshi’s brilliant defense.

Most of the match took place on the ground, with Shields passing to side control and Satoshi scrambling to recover his guard. Shields exploded from full mount with only a handful of seconds remaining in the fight and tried for a last-ditch arm bar, but the Tokyo-based fighter slid out of it as time expired. The match was ruled an automatic draw.

Cornelius, Simoes Draw in Gi Match

Popular jiu-jitsu master Keenan Cornelius stepped up on late notice to square off against Yuri Simoes when Rafael Lovato, Jr. withdrew. With one win apiece against one another, the rubber match was set and it didn’t disappoint for the entire 20 minutes.

Cornelius was slightly more aggressive than his Brazilian counterpart, but Simoes was excellent in defending everything the Atos fighter threw at him. In his typical rubbery approach, Cornelius searched for various armbars and an assortment of chokes from all positions, but Simoes was equally as impressive with his defense. But Simoes wasn’t strictly thwarting the various assaults; he came very close to a kneebar finish in the first half of the contest and locked on a deep triangle in the second, but he missed both attempts.

The two phenoms tried everything they could to finish the other off, but the BJJ black belts were each thinking a step ahead and countered beautifully. In the end, since neither could pull off the submission, the battle ended in a 20-minute draw.

Diniz Battles Magalhaes to a Draw

Matheus Diniz wasn’t supposed to be on the Metamoris 5 card until a week ago, when Kevin Casey had to withdraw from the event due to injury. The Marcelo Garcia brown belt stepped up and fought valiantly against one of the best BJJ black belts in the world: UFC veteran and ADCC world champion Vinny Magalhaes.

Although Diniz couldn’t take the Las Vegas-based fighter off his feet for the first 10-plus minutes of the no-gi match, he defended everything Magalhaes threw at him once Vinny eventually pulled guard. Magalhaes routinely utilized the rubber guard and tried the omoplata/triangle hybrid several times, but Diniz’s defense was superb.

Diniz had difficulty in opening his opponent’s guard and when he did, he found it impossible to pass. With that said, Magalhaes, who represents Syndicate MMA, was never in any real danger and since the bigger fighter couldn’t put Matheus away, the two jiu jitsu players had to settle for a 20-minute draw.

Tonon Submits Maxwell with Slick Heel Hook

The opening matchup of the card, Brunswick BJJ fighter Garry Tonon was sensational in submitting Zak Maxwell via heel hook.

After a torrid several minutes where both jiu jitsu players scrambled and escaped submission attempts, Tonon’s mastery of the gentle art was too much for the Gracie Humaita rep to handle and had to tap.

Tonon was relentless in looking for an assortment of foot and leg locks, but it was the second heel hook attempt that sealed Maxwell’s fate. After scrambling out of a deep kimura and landing in 50/50, Maxwell tried to roll out to rest his position, but Tonon already had a hold his foot and locked on the submission, forcing the tap after Maxwell couldn’t escape.