Brown Belt: Nicholas Meregali

We've been calling him 'king of the brown belts' all year, but it seems you shared our opinion of Alliance athlete Nicholas Meregali, who received his black belt on December 10.

2016 was a huge year for Meregali, who took double gold at nearly every major gi competition (Euros, Pans, Worlds and World Pro) and became the #1 brown belt in the UAEJJF rankings.

Meregali even stepped up to compete at the Copa Podio Middleweight Grand Prix, which gave us a taste what he's capable of against some of the best in the world.

As Nicholas Meregali prepares for the new phase of his career as a black belt competitor, he does so having been named the FloGrappling 2016 Brown Belt of the Year.

Watch Nicholas Meregali vs Gutemberg Pereira At IBJJF Pan Championships