Metamoris 6 at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 9, featured an incredible line up of talent, and it could ONLY be seen on live Internet PPV.
Josh Barnett beat Ryron Gracie via toehold
Chael Sonnen and Renato Sobral competed to a Draw (Time Limit)
Dillon Danis beat Joe Lauzon via submission (Darse Choke) at 5:41
Keenan Cornelius and Alexandre Ribeiro competed to a Draw (Time Limit)
Roberto Satoshi and Clark Gracie competed to a Draw (Time Limit)
Evandro Nunes and Jimmy Friedrich competed to a Draw (Time Limit)
Undercard
Michael Liera Jr. and Morgan Neidlinger competed to a Draw (Time Limit)
Francisco Iturralde beat Greg McIntyre via submission (Armbar)
There are multiple packages available at Metamoris.com allowing you to view the card, and more.
With no spectators and no media, Metamoris stepped Ninja-like into unknown territory. However, in an interview with Steph Daniels for BE, Chael Sonnen, who knows as much about getting asses in seats that any combat sports competitor on Earth, said it may have been a smart step.
It’s pretty cool, but it defies the logic of general promotion, in which the gate is a very important element, as is your PR arm such as working with the media. The media have also been shut out from this event. That is a very interesting business model, and we’re only going to know if it works when Metamoris 7 and 8 roll along and they continue this strategy.
Do you remember when Nick Diaz fought Georges St. Pierre and refused to do any media? Now Dana White was going to take the fight from him. When Dana threatened to pull the fight from Nick at the press conference, that got on Sportscenter, and on the front page of all the media sites and UFC Tonight.
The unintended consequence was that they ended up selling about 300,000 more pay-per-views than projected because they got more media attention from Nick Diaz refusing to do the media than they could have possibly got from him actually showing up, short of him actually lighting up a blunt at the press conference.
With that in mind, Metamoris’ strategy is a bit unheard of, but it’s not totally uncharted waters. Brock Lesnar is another guy who has never talked to anybody, nobody knows who he is or what he’s doing behind the scenes, and the speculation has grown to increase his legend.
I’ll tell you another thing; I haven’t been anywhere in the last week where people haven’t asked me about Metamoris and this approach that they’re taking. Not for nothing, they’re getting more attention from resisting attention than if they just ran commercials and ads like everyone else, but we’re only going to know in hindsight if it works.
