This article about Nicholas Meregali being submitted by Michael Pixley is part of our ADCC 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
There are always upsets at major grappling tournaments and ADCC 2024 has produced one of the biggest ever, as Nicholas Meregali has been submitted by BJJ purple belt Michael Pixley. It was probably the biggest moment of the event on the first day, as absolutely nobody could have predicted that it would happen. Meregali has been on an incredible run over the last two years and he’s beaten several of the best grapplers in the world without suffering a single loss since ADCC 2022. Not only was Meregali one of the two favorites to win the under 99kg division but he was also being touted as the favorite to win the absolute division as well.
Meregali was so confident of his success at ADCC 2024 in fact that he decided to pick the submissions that he was going to finish his matches with in advance. Things started out pretty well for Meregali too, although the signs were there that things weren’t going to be as easy as he imagined. He predicted that he was going to finish his first two matches by heel hook but after running into elite leglocker Marcin Maciulewicz in the opening round, that went out the window. Meregali was put under a little pressure at first but he still won the match regardless, and he was able to submit Maciulewicz with a kimura.
That’s when things took a drastic turn for Meregali though, as he was matched up against Michael Pixley in the quarter-finals. Pixley is a BJJ purple belt under Heath Pedigo and he’s known for his fantastic wrestling, something that was clearly going to give Meregali a challenge. The match was tough for Meregali from the start but at one point he decided to wrestle up to score points and he was hit with a quick uchi mata from Pixley that sent him crashing back to the mat. Pixley took his opportunity with both hands at ADCC 2024, latching on to a head and arm control and switching to a D’arce choke to become the only man to have submitted Nicholas Meregali since he was promoted to black belt in 2016.
Meregali tapped very quickly and it looked as though the choke was in deep, but after Pixley released his grips he still didn’t get up from the mat. It was clear that something was wrong and officials in the arena rushed over to tend to Meregali. It was later revealed on the live broadcast that Meregali had actually had his shoulder dislocated during the submission and he could be seen in the crowd afterward with his arm in a sling. Not only was Meregali eliminated from the under 99kg weight class but it seems likely that he’s also been forced out of the absolute division too, which would mean that he leaves ADCC 2024 completely empty-handed.
