Meregali vs Hugo Potential Final | IBJJF Absolute GP Bracket Released!

The IBJJF released the bracket for the $40,000 Absolute GP coming this Friday, with a potential Victor Hugo vs Nicholas Meregali final.

Aug 28, 2023 by Corey Stockton

Meregali vs Hugo Potential Final | IBJJF Absolute GP Bracket Released!

Today the IBJJF announced the bracket and the order of bouts for its 2023 Absolute Grand Prix coming to Jiu-Jitsu Con weekend in Las Vegas, NV on Sept. 1.

The GP, the main event of Jiu-Jitsu Con weekend beginning on Thursday, Aug. 31 and running through Sept. 2, features a bracket of some of the top heavyweight stars in grappling, and several up and commers hoping to plant their flags in jiu-jitsu noteriety.

$40,000 is on the line for the winner of the eight-man bracket.

The top seeds in the bracket are Nicholas Meregali and Victor Hugo, who have a storied rivalry dating back three years. Hugo defeated Meregali in a gi match on the first WNO in January 2020. And although Meregali won their rematch at the 2021 IBJJF Wolrd Championships, he was unable to continue in the bracket after recieving a disqualification for conduct.

Meregali bounced back in 2022, taking the IBJJF absolute world title, his second world title overall, and went on to challenge the winner of the 2023 absolute title.

Victor Hugo had a monster run in 2023, becoming the first athlete to win double gold and Brasilieiros and Worlds in the same year, and also becoming the first person to win via submission in a Worlds absolute final since Roger Gracie in 2009.

The absolute world champs of the two most recent editions of Worlds could now face off in the final of this bracket, but they’ll both have to run through a guantlet of hungry up and comers and tenured disruptors if they hope to lock it in.