Yesterday saw a bizarre turn of events that saw Nicholas Meregali disqualified from IBJJF Worlds. Before this disqualification, the Brazilian was on track to win both gold at his weight division and the Absolute category. However, because of this he was dejected from the competition and went home empty-handed.
So, what happened? During the final seconds of his match against Victor Hugo in the quarter finals of the Ultra Heavy weight division, Meregali had a closed guard position and was seen giving the finger to the crowd. More specifically, it looked like this gesture was aimed towards Victor Hugo’s coach, Rafael Lovato Jr who can be seen towards the right of the picture.
Apparently, Meregali was unhappy with the coaching that Victor Hugo received so he made this known. What followed was pretty dramatic!
This disqualification was met with controversy from fans who deemed the penalty as very harsh. Some argued that he should have been fined or given a caution, rather than a complete ban from the competition. Previously in the day, Meregali had put on an exciting match against Cyborg Abreu, where he managed to put Cyborg to sleep with a crafty loop choke.
Of course, IBJJF still wants to protect its reputation but at the same time, there’s actually not a whole lot of clear information on this type of behavior or penalties in their rules. If you read the IBJJF rules then it’s quite vague on what constitutes ad DQ. Therefore, a lot of this decision making may have lied with the referee.
Not only this, but it also meant the Absolute finals match against Felipe Pena was also stopped. As a result, Pena was given a free win and used this opportunity to retire from competing in the gi.
