Nicholas Meregali is finally going to be making his return to professional Jiu-Jitsu after almost two years on the sidelines, and now he will be facing Nicholas Maglicic at UFC BJJ 5 on February 12th, 2026. Although Maglicic might not be as well-known as some of the other top-ranked competitors in the heavyweight division, this is far from an easy match. Maglicic has registered several very impressive wins recently, beating multiple ADCC veterans and even winning the ADCC Asia and Oceania Trials in 2025. He was going to be one to watch at ADCC 2026 anyway but his breakthrough might come a little bit earlier now he has the opportunity against Meregali.
Maglicic will obviously be trying to grab this opportunity with both hands, as a win over a big name like Meregali could dramatically alter the course of his career. For Meregali, the storyline here is more about his own personal battles rather than the one he has against the man in front of him. This phase of Meregali’s career began at ADCC 2024; where he came in as one of the favorites to win both the under 99kg and absolute divisions. Despite a flawless opening round match, Meregali was derailed in the second round when he was submitted for the first time in his black belt career by Michael Pixley.
To make matters worse, Meregali suffered a severe shoulder injury during the match too. It was always going to keep him out of action for a while, but he revealed the following year that he was forced to undergo multiple surgeries to deal with the injury. Fast-forward to today and Meregali has battled through four surgeries and spent over a year off the mats entirely. His return comes 17 months after he first suffered that devastating injury and it’s impossible to predict what he’s going to look like when he steps back into the spotlight. With an elite grappler like Maglicic looking to shut down his comeback, this is sure to be an exciting match.
UFC BJJ announced the news that Nicholas Meregali would be making his return against Nicholas Maglicic at UFC BJJ 5 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
