The best brown belt in the world in 2016, 22 year old Nicholas Meregali was promoted to black belt by Mario Reis last December. In his first ever competition in his new rank, he made a huge statement. He defeated BJJ legend Xande Ribeiro at the Brazil National Pro in the final of the -94kg weight class.
The 36 year old Xande Ribeiro is a 7x black belt World Champion and ADCC champion.
The news was first reported by Hywel Teague of Flograppling:
They each submitted three opponents en route to the final.
Check out the match video:
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