It’s been an odd few years for Ralek Gracie. He founded the submission-grappling promotion Metamoris in 2012, watched it soar into a kind of hipster darling territory by 2014, and ended up in the crosshairs of many complaints by 2016.
Gracie is back in the spotlight in early 2017, as he will compete for the first time in nearly six years in a mixed martial arts fight at Bellator 170 against Hisaki Kato on Jan. 21. Yet before he gets back in the cage, he tried to clear up some mystery surrounding his “passion” venture, Metamoris. Namely, is the beleaguered Southern California-promotion kaput?