Nicholas Meregali made waves recently when he announced a $20,000 challenge to the winner of the absolute division at the IBJJF World Championship 2023, and the champion Victor Hugo has now agreed. It was a huge challenge thrown down and it was even more interesting considering that Meregali didn’t actually know who he was challenging then. The world championship hadn’t even started at the time, but Meregali had already decided that he wasn’t going to compete in that or any other IBJJF event in future. Meregali was still watching the event unfold regardless though, and he actually targeted Hugo specifically before the absolute division had even finished:
“After watching the Open Class yesterday I realized that there’s no reason not to give Vitor Hugo a chance to fight the BEST GI FIGHTER IN THE WORLD. He had an incredible performance at his weight division and open class, and he beat Kaynan (Duarte) in a very dominant performance, even though he only won 1-0 advantage. I fought Erich (Munis) exactly 2 months ago, so even if he wins the open class we don’t need to compete again so soon, because nothing has changed since then. I’ll find out how to make Meregali vs Hugo in a professional organization, maybe in July or later September. I’m happy and excited for having another Gi opponent in line.”
Victor Hugo had more urgent matters than the challenge from Nicholas Meregali to attend to at the time of course, as Munis was still waiting for him in the absolute division final. Of course, Hugo won that match anyway and left the IBJJF World Championship 2023 as the super-heavyweight and absolute champion. The two men have actually met before several times and Meregali is winning the series between them 3-1, although neither man has won by submission. Hugo was asked about the potential match with Meregali in an interview after he’d won those titles and he was quick to accept it:
“He was talking, you know? I didn’t interview two weeks ago. He can talk now, he can talk because we won. I’m here, let’s make it happen. I think it’s the perfect time. I’ve proved, you know, I think it’s a match that’s gonna elevate the level of Jiu-Jitsu. I was able to display great Jiu-Jitsu here, he displayed great Jiu-Jitsu on the last edition (of Who’s Number One). I think that’s like, we gotta push those big matches. I think that’s gonna elevate the sport to the next level. I’m here, let’s make it happen.”
Nicholas Meregali announced that he’s now working to make the match with Victor Hugo happen in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
