John Danaher calls Meregali’s win over Duarte an “Epic victory”

Yesterday’s WNO saw Nicholas Meregali defeat ATOS’s Kaynan Duarte. After the match, a delighted John Danaher described the win as an “Epic victory“, as well as referring to it as a “Clash of the titans.” This victory comes almost one year to the day after Duarte won gold in his weight class at ADCC, while Meregali earned bronze in the same division. Clearly, Meregali has progressed rapidly since then.

Overall, it was a great night for Danaher, as all three of his New Wave athletes were victorious. He also waxed lyrical about Duarte, and claimed that: “We have always considered ATOS our toughest rivals and Kaynan one of the uber elite grapplers of the world.” Furthermore, he described the win as one of the biggest in the career of Meregali.

Interestingly however, Meregali announced shortly after that he would be returning to train in the gi. It is possible that he could have his eyes on various events such as BJJ Stars and Copa Podio, after previously claiming that he wouldn’t be competing at any IBJJF events in the near future due to the lack of significant payment.

It is entirely possible at this point that Meregali could switch back to the gi for a possible eight months or so to do what he does best, then switch back to no gi again in time for next year’s ADCC. Overall, it would be a shame to see him completely reject no gi after such an impressive victory. As for Danaher, this once again proves his ability as an elite coach.