# Nicholas Meregali ("Alemão") > ## Overview **Name:** Nicholas Meregali **Nickname:** Alemão ## Bio Nicholas Meregali was born on May 27, 1994, in Santo Antônio – a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Meregali started in jiu-jitsu thanks to his younger brother, who was the first in the house to start training. On his return home from practice, Meregali’s sibling would often try out his newly learned jiu-jitsu moves on Nicholas, who became increasingly interested in the martial art joining the ACJJ academy in Santo Antônio at the age of 16. Under the guidance of instructor Jeferson Adan, Nicholas Meregali’s grappling genius started revealing itself, winning many important titles at a state level, and a Brazilian National title as a blue belt. By the end of his blue belt campaign (September 2013) Nicholas understood the need to move to a more competition-driven atmosphere, with higher-level training partners. He chose to relocate to his state’s capital – Porto Alegre, in order to train full time under the supervision of Mario Reis , one of the most accomplished athletes ever produced in the south of Brazil. Though training every day with Reis, Meregali always paid respect to his first instructor Jeferson Adan, visiting his old academy on a regular basis. With plenty of experience at the highest level, Mario Reis took Meregali to the next level in competition. Both as a purple and as a brown belt, Nicholas was widely regarded as the best-colored belt in the world with the gi. His repeated success in the sport’s top tournaments led to his black belt, awarded by both Reis and Adan in December 2016. In January 2022, following the filming of a technique instructional for BJJ Fanatics, Nicholas Meregali (at the time the #1 gi jiu-jitsu athlete in the world) met and trained with the #1 no-gi jiu-jitsu player Gordon Ryan , who was also in the Fanatics crew. From that moment Meregali and Ryan started training more regularly, with the Brazilian joining Gordon & John Danaher ‘s, New Wave Team, shortly thereafter. The cover photo was taken by Chase E. Smith. Nicholas Meregali Highlight Pan American 2016 Nicholas Meregali vs Adam Wardzinski --- **Last Updated:** March 21, 2026 **Data Source:** BJJ.Space (https://bjj.space/people/nicholas-meregali-c9a53927a059)