Newly minted black belt Nicholas Meregali (view profile) just beat Xande Ribeiro at the Brazilian National Pro in Manaus. 

This was the black belt debut of the Alliance heavyweight, and he defeated Ribeiro in the finals of the -94kg division. Meregali received his black belt in December of 2016. 

Watch 40+ of Nicholas Meregali's matches in the FloGrappling archives!

They each submitted three opponents en route to the final. Meregali pulled guard and worked his trademark open guard with a collar grip, threatening with an omoplata and a triangle. 

The score remained at 0-0 until Meregali came close to sweeping Ribeiro with one of his well-known De la-X guard techniques in the final minute of the match, scoring an advantage for his effort. 

Ribeiro is ranked #3 in the world in the UAEJJF adult black belt rankings. Meregali won top prize in 2016 as the top brown belt in the UAEJJF world ranking. 

More results as they come in.

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