Nicholas Meregali just issued a crazy public challenge to 4 specific competitors, as he is apparently planning on putting on his own event. It seems like Meregali has been paying attention to the IBJJF World Championship even though he decided never to compete at IBJJF events. It makes sense that he would still be watching regardless of course, as Meregali is one of the top gi competitors in the world and he would naturally want to watch his potential opposition. He sent out the public challenge to the 4 men who stood on the absolute podium at the IBJJF World Championship 2024, and he wants to face them all on the same night.
The two bronze medalists were Marcus Ribeiro and Meyram Maquine, with Ribeiro not reaching the podium in his own weight class and Maquine winning gold at featherweight. The silver medalist was another lighter competitor too, as Jansen Gomes won another silver medal at medium-heavyweight. Meregali has already submitted Ribeiro but has never crossed paths with the other two men, and he wants to face them all on after the other. The champion was Erich Munis, who Meregali has a 2-1 record against, and he wants a longer match against him later on in the night:
“This post is to inform the entire Absolute podium that we will fight after the ADCC in a professional event. My idea is to fight the 2 third-placed and he second-placed on the podium, one after the other without rest, as it would be fairer to them. For the final fight, there will be a break and then Erich (Munis) and I will do a 30min sub only match. I will pay out of my pocket to the 4 athletes more than they will earn by winning the event they are competing in today, and I will also put a cash prize of 50k dollars for the champion (In this case I will reward myself Hahahhaha) I will organise the event for after the ADCC, because until then I won’t lose my focus on double gold. Many people may complan, but I will be financing an event out of my pocket, paying the athletes more than they have ever received to fight in the gi in their lives and I will still give them the chance to fight and share the mat with the best in the world. This is an essential opportunity.”
Nicholas Meregali made the announcement that he wanted to create his own tournament with the 4 competitors who stood on the absolute podium in a recent post to his official Instagram account: