A G in a gi might start the party
But you don’t need a gi, all you need is Bacardi
Bring a CD and some Bob Marley
This shit could get heavy like tons of broccoli!
-G-in-a-Gi, by Ralek Gracie
Helio Gracie refined Jiu-Jitsu, so it would work against far larger opponents, making real the false promises of the vast majority of martial arts. Helio’s son Rorion came to America in 1978, and in 1993 co-founded the UFC which brought BJJ to the world. Rorion’s sons Rener and Ryron run the Gracie Academy and the controversial and evolving Gracie University.
Ryron and Rener’s just slightly younger brother Ralek, 31, has less distinguished himself of late.
Theself-styled G in a Gi founded the Metamoris professional grappling events, which were awesome. However, you can readily make a small fortune in the fight business, by starting with a large one.
Metamoris owes significant money to past event competitors and staff. There were reports of unauthorized credit card renewals. And the event came under fire for trying to sign competitors to exclusive contracts, and aggressive scheduling on the same weekend as the rival Eddie Bravo Invitational.
Now the EBI is on UFC Fight Pass, and Metamoris owes an estimated $200,000.
In March Ralek vowed to pay everyone back.
I’m going to start fighting in MMA to pay these guys back,” he promised. “That’s how serious I am about this. My dad, his level of integrity, people don’t even know about. My dad told me that I needed to call everybody that I owe. Where am I going to run? There is only forward.
Ralek has fought three times, all in Japan. In his debut he tapped the now 4-11 Katsuyori Shibata. The next year, in 2008, he tapped the formidable Alavutdin Gadjiev, who is now 18-13 . And in 2010 Ralek won a decision over a vastly diminished Kazushi Sakuraba, who would lose his next four fights, two by TKO, two by submission, and then retire.
But no word was heard about Ralek fighting. He instead promoted a Metamoris Challenger grappling event, with a $99 entry fee. He promoted the tournament on Facebook, and was called on it by brown belt Nathan Halford.
“So with the money you guys are taking in from the entry fees, are you going to pay back all the staff/venues/champions from previous events?” asked Halford, who spoke for many.
Ralek’s reply was infamous.
“Hey buddy, we don’t exist to pay our debts,” wrote Ralek. “We exist to make a difference for Jiu Jitsu and the people who care about Jiu Jitsu. We have adjusted our business model to account not only for past mistakes but future opportunities. Again because we care. Thank you!”
The result was predictably harsh, and Ralek attempted to shrimp out of what he said.
“I underestimated how much people want to take me out of context still,” he wrote. “To be clear, paying debts from revenue earned is what businesses do to stay afloat. My response to Nathan (because he sounded like a troll) was based on the assumption that he knew our intentions were to cover anyone and everyone and my response was an attempt to give him more context as to our efforts toward growth in avoiding such issues, which I felt was the deeper issue at hand. No business has any chance of moving forward without applying the fullest efforts to pay what is owed.”
“Dream gave up. They never stayed in contact with me and they filed bankruptcy- they still owe me 60k but I wouldn’t take back the experience for anything. Now I have more compassion for them. They tried to build the Japanese audience and they took risks, they failed and future promotions will learn from them. I know the pain of not getting paid and I ended up paying people way too much to compensate for my emotions. That backfired.
“We are pushing forward because that’s the most respectful thing to do if you owe anyone money. I should get back to it but I appreciate all your passion.”
He later responded in a more garbled manner still.
Man, I realize did come off cocky in my first reply,” Ralek acknowledged. “I am at war to follow through on a mission and I’m giving momentary thoughts in real time. That as a concept is a PR nightmare and many people would say I shouldn’t be answering comments because my focus is not on making you feel comfortable, but it’s cool because if you care than I care. Never had any intentions of hurting anyone or having such issues. Stopping isn’t an option but I will do all I can to make better moves and I appreciate the criticism, thanks for sharing your frustrations.
And still no one was paid.
Finally, on October 23, Ryron and Rener sent a message to their affiliate academies, warning them not to do business with Ralek.
“As most of you know, we have no stake in Metamoris, but we have always supported our brother, Ralek,” wrote Ryron and Rener. “Although we haven’t always agreed with the Metamoris business practices, we never felt it was our place to publicly express our concerns with the operation… until now. Ralek has engaged in dishonest and fraudulent activity, and continues to do so despite our repeated efforts to guide him. We won’t discuss the details, but his unethical business practices have begun to affect us personally, as well as some of our closest friends, students, and business partners. Accordingly, we have decided to terminate all business relations with Ralek and Metamoris.
“Make no mistake, we love our brother, and we sincerely hope that someday his integrity will match his ambition and creativity. But, we are also very proud of the relationships we have built with you, the growing family of certified instructors around the world. These critical connections are founded on trust and integrity. Because Ralek’s business fails to exemplify these values, we feel obligated to caution anyone who is considering doing business with him or Metamoris on any level.”
Now ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto reports that Ralek has signed with Bellator MMA, and will be competing in the middleweight division. He is expected to debut vs. TBA on Jan. 21 in Inglewood, California.
“I’m ready to get myself back out there,” said Gracie. “I competed in a Metamoris jiu-jitsu match, and I felt like I got in amazing shape but wasn’t able to focus like I wanted, because I was running my own show.
“I’ve always fought MMA. I never really competed in jiu-jitsu. I was always attracted to more of a real fight. I think people still want to know what this original style of jiu-jitsu can do in modern MMA. I’m into that, and I’m into being a catalyst in that story.”
Ralek was asked about his brothers’ accusation and replied with alarming hubris. He said it would be dishonorable to respond to questions about owing $200,000 to customers and employees.
“I really want to focus on this right now,” he began. “But I definitely would say [Metamoris] is doing everything it can to move forward in the most honorable way possible. It’s tough, man. We went through a hard time, and I think people took for granted what we were bringing to the table — something that was revolutionary for the sport. We were really young, really green and didn’t have the business experience.
“It’s a surreal thing, to answer questions about my brothers — and even trying to defend yourself is dishonorable in this kind of situation. We’re just doing the best we can, and I think there are some stuff behind the scenes that people don’t know about and shouldn’t know about. I really don’t like avoiding questions, but at the end of the day, I really don’t think it’s important or relevant in this circumstance. This [Bellator signing] is very exciting and I’m excited to compete.”
Step it up now
Walk a tight rope
Do a moonwalk
Rear naked choke
I don’t know you
You don’t know me
All is said and done I’m just a G in a gi
One of these days we’ll all be free
Until then I’m a G in a gi!
H/T BJJee, batmanbjj
