It appears that Nicholas Meregali is organizing his own gi event/competition – and that it will take place after the ADCC.

The news were shared by Meregali himself, via social media:

This post is to inform the entire Absolute podium that we will be fighting after the ADCC in a professional event.

He went on to explain what the event will look like:

My idea is to fight against the 2 third placed and the second placed from the podium, one after the other without a break, because that would be fairer for them.

For the final fight, there will be a break and then Erich and I are going to have a fight 30min rule only finish.

As well as on what the reward for winning will be:

I will pay out of my own pocket the 4 athletes more than they will win the event they are fighting today, and I will also put a $50k prize for the champion (in case I will reward myself hahahhaha).

I will organize the event for after the ADCC, until then I won’t lose focus on double gold.

Meregali added that this event is a “must-have opportunity”:

A lot of people can complain, but I will be funding an event out of my own pocket, paying athletes more than they’ve been paid to fight in kimono in life and I will still give them the chance to fight and share the tatame with the best in the world.

 

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A post shared by M E R E G A L I (@nicholasmeregali)

So why would Nicholas Meregali even organize a new gi event?
Some speculate that it’s based on what Craig Jones is doing with his CJI event, although in the no-gi realm.

But the fact is that Meregali isn’t exactly happy with the state of present-day gi competition, a sentiment which he shared via social media as well:

[This] sport is increasingly commercial and cheap, and unfortunately, in the hands of people who play business with mastery and make everything that takes the brilliance of the sport look like “Martial Art”.

As a passionate and eternal gi Jiu Jitsu representative, I hope to help the industry, but I’m not sure if that’s possible.