It was one of the most thrilling finals of the 2017 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and we may see Leandro Lo and Nicholas Meregali go at it again just a few weeks from now.

This time, however, they'll do it in the super heavyweight division at the 2018 World Championships. 

In June 2017 Leandro Lo came into the IBJJF World Championships as a five-time champ, having won every year from 2012 to 2016. 

Meregali was the up-and-coming first year black belt, a rising talent who had cleaned up as a brown belt the previous year. He went up against Lo at Pans in March of 2017, losing via points. 

The heavyweight final was the moment of truth, and it was Meregali's moment to shine. The young Alliance black belt managed to score a two-point sweep on Lo with three minutes left, and held onto the lead in the scrappy final minutes of the match to do the unthinkable: beat Leandro Lo and become a world champion. 

Leandro never spoke about it but it's easy to imagine that the loss has haunted him. It was the first year in a long time he had walked away from Worlds without a gold medal, taking double silver (losing to Buchecha in the absolute). 

Meregali told us just last week that super heavyweight (222lb / 100.5kg) is his new home, as he prefers the added strength the extra few kilos gives him and he can avoid the deleterious effects of having to cut weight. 

Lo's name slid into the list of entrants for the 2018 World Championships on Friday May 18. Given that he competed as low as 85kg recently, there seems to be only one reason he's in the same division as Meregali: unfinished business. 

Last year when Lo was chasing the ranking prize, he kept changing divisions in order to chase down Erberth Santos, a natural super heavyweight. Lo is a frequent fact in the absolute division, winning gold at the Pans in March, and he has no problem fighting bigger guys. 

The super heavyweight division is now stacked with talent: Gutemberg Pereira, Mahamed Aly, Jared Dopp, Fellipe Trovo, Fernando Reis and more will make this a highly competitive bracket. 

But let's be honest: the one match everybody hopes to see at Worlds is Lo vs Meregali And if things play out right, we will see them face off once again. 

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May 30* to Jun 3 | Long Beach, CA