Nicholas Meregali has now opened up and revealed the reasons behind his decision to stop competing in IBJJF events in a recent interview with MMA Hoje. Fans were shocked just a few weeks ago when Meregali announced his decision to stop competing for the organization, and he’s stayed true to his word so far. The registration date for the biggest event of the year, the IBJJF World Championship 2023, has come and gone and he’s notably absent from the event. Meregali laid out exactly what he changes he wants to see before he returns:
“My decision is permanent. The only way I would come back to fight for IBJJF is that I could see a commitment, a movement to professionalize the sport. I’m talking about the rules, the pay, streaming, media exposure, being professional in all aspects that I believe that is their job to handle.”
It shouldn’t be all that hard for the IBJJF to make these things happen either, and Meregali seems perfectly aware of that himself:
“They’re a giant company. I was talking to them when I was trying to come back, and fought the Pan American, and wanted to fight at the Brasileiro, but I couldn’t do it… This is not a corner store, it’s not a local championship, it’s a solid business. But for me to be a part of this – and I understand that I’m just an athlete and you’re the place where everyone wants to compete… But I need some structure. “I want this and that to be a part of this… Can we make it happen?” They said: “No.”
Although Nicholas Meregali is removing himself from IBJJF events in the future, he’s not abandoning gi competition altogether. He recently defeated Pedro Marinho in the first gi match in the history of Who’s Number One, and both FloGrappling and Meregali have shown an interest in continuing this. Meregali has actually done more than just show an interest, he’s issued an open to challenge to the winner of the absolute division at the IBJJF world championship this year to have a match at the next WNO event. He doesn’t seem to hold any grudges either, as he has plenty of options available to him:
“It’s all good. I’ll make my own path outside then. I have some fights with the gi that I’m trying to finalize, and now it’s just a matter of time for these to be set in any professional grappling organization. I have open doors to choose where I want to fight next. So, it’s a good position to be in, to be able to choose where I’m doing this next.”
The full interview with Nicholas Meregali where he explains his reasons behind no longer competing in IBJJF events was conducted by MMA Hoje and that section was uploaded in a post to their official Instagram account:
