Metamoris 6 closed to public and media, available to watch online only through PPV stream

The Baltimore Orioles vs. Chicago White Sox baseball game last Wednesday afternoon won't be the only sporting event in recent weeks to air without a live audience.

Metamoris, the world's premiere grappling league, will only show its next event, Metamoris 6, online via pay-per-view (PPV). Metamoris director of operations, Sage Gracie, confirmed to MMAmania.com on Tuesday afternoon (May 5, 2015).

The promotion will not be open to the mixed martial arts (MMA) media, either.

"It is true," Gracie said.

As to why that decision was made by the promotion, Gracie did not provide any additional information. The rumblings began on Twitter on Monday afternoon (H/T Marc Raimondi), hinting that the show would in fact only be offered on PPV.

Metamoris PR told MMAmania.com that the basic premise behind the idea of not being open to the public is that the promotion wanted to experiment with more intimate settings for its athletes, which may include new and different camera angles and viewing options.

In other words, Metamoris isn't going away from its traditional format, just trying something new.

As to where it is being held, that information was not made available either, giving the event a bit of a secret and old-school martial arts feel, like the kumite from the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic Bloodsport. The only information given was that Metamoris 6 would be held in a secret studio and only a handful of people will be on hand (the competitors, cornermen, and Metamoris higher ups like Ralek Gracie, etc.).

It's an interesting choice by the upstart promotion to try this type of change with Josh Barnett taking on Robert Abreu in the main event. In addition, fellow UFC veteran Chael Sonnel will battle Renato "Babalu" Sobral in the co-main, while Joe Lauzon goes up against Dillon Danis, among others.

UFC and grappling fans will only be able to tune in to the PPV on the Metamoris.com website. You can order now for a pre-sale price of $29.95.

Metamoris takes place at 6 p.m. ET on Sat., May 9, 2015.