Nicholas Meregali might be one of the top heavyweight BJJ competitors in the world right now, but apparently he has no intention of making the transition to MMA. Years ago that move would have been a foregone conclusion but times have changed; grapplers can now make just as much money as all but the very best MMA fighters in the UFC. Some do still make the jump though, and Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is probably the most famous example in recent years. Meregali’s MMA debut would almost certainly attract just as much attention as Buchecha’s did, but now it looks like that’s off the table for good.
Meregali was asked about MMA during the pre-match press conference for his rematch with Felipe Pena at Spaten Fight Night 3; and it started with the idea of facing an MMA fighter in a grappling match:
“No, not really. So I think MMA stars have such a different legacy. They are champions in their fields. I don’t think it’s very fair with a grappling match.”
That’s when the conversation moved to the idea of Meregali doing MMA instead, but he sees it as the same as MMA fighters facing him in a grappling match:
“I was talking with Glover [Teixeira] about it. So I shouldn’t be doing grappling match against a grappling fighter. Doesn’t make any sense. It’s the same as if I decide fighting Glover in MMA match. He’s going to k*ll me, you know? I need to be respectful. So if they want to do that for fun, I can do it, but I also know that I should be respecting them from what they do. Instead of telling them that they should be into my field and kind of, you know, take the challenge. It’s not fair.”
That’s when he shut the door on MMA definitively:
“I’m fine on grappling. I’m fine on grappling. I don’t want to be involved.”
The full interview with Nicholas Meregali where he reveals whether or not he would ever do MMA was uploaded to the official Twitter account of MMAFighting: