Nicholas Meregali just issued a challenge to Nicky Rodriguez and Craig Jones for a pair of matches against the two top representatives of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu, as he wants to face them one after the other. It makes sense for Meregali to call for some of the biggest matches in the sport, as he’s clearly proven that he belongs among the top no gi grapplers on the planet. He was already one of the best gi grapplers in the sport and has been for quite some time, winning several major IBJJF titles since he was first promoted to black belt in 2016.
It came as a surprise when he first announced his transition to no gi competition ready for ADCC 2022 but he moved to New Wave Jiu-Jitsu and took the change in ruleset incredibly seriously. His debut appearance at the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling competition went incredibly well, as he started out the weekend by going 3-1 in the under 99kg division and taking home a bronze medal. This is actually the source of some of his rivalry with B-Team, because his only loss in that division was a referee decision he dropped to Craig Jones in the semi-final.
He returned in the absolute division and went 3-1 again, but this time his only loss came in the final so he left with a silver medal instead. All in all it was a great performance for his first major no gi tournament and Meregali has been able to continue that success in no gi superfights after a brief return to gi competition. He beat Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 before submitting Kaynan Duarte at WNO 19, and he took one more no gi match to finish the year after another brief return to gi grappling.
This was his most recent match against Felipe Pena at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 5 that he won by submission, and his request for a pair of matches came immediately afterward. It’s definitely an interesting prospect, because Jones and Rodriguez represent two of the biggest challenges that Nicholas Meregali could face in no gi competition. Not just that, but they’re both among the biggest matches that could be made in the sport right now and any promotion would be willing to book them.
Nicholas Meregali called out Nicky Rodriguez and Craig Jones for a pair of matches in a chain of comments between his official Instagram account and that of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C04XI2ULhyc/
Shortly after this back-and-forth, Meregali decided to open fire on Rodriguez in particular. He started out by criticizing his professional grappling record and moving on to explain that he thinks Rodriguez should be the second of the two matches that he’s angling for:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C04lbcMv96j/
