Fate has a way of f**king with us ??: nicholas meregali won his first world absolute title this weekend in California, but the victory did not come easily – in training just thirteen days before the competition Mr Meregali badly tore his rib cartilage – a notoriously painful and debilitating injury. There isn't much one can do about a rib injury and so he had to go in with his movement severely compromised and do his best. When the brackets were announced We were stunned to see that his first opponent in the open weight tournament is literally the largest active black belt competitor in the world! A man somewhere between three and four hundred pounds!!! I'm thinking to myself as I read the brackets ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME? Nicholas comes in with a busted ribcage and his very first opponent is the biggest and heaviest man in the sport??!!! How the hell did the gods of fate arrange that?! And why do they hate us this much?! ??? What were the chances of this happening? ??? As always there is nothing to do but shrug your shoulders, laugh and keep going ??? Fortunately that's exactly what Mr Meregali did and he went on to win with his trademark loop strangle late in the match! It's something I often tell my students – when you go to compete – always cover the worst case scenario because the gods of fate have a way of making it happen every time! ??? I'm sure you've all had similar experiences in both jiu jitsu and everyday life – there's not much you can do except work on our skills so much that even when that worst case scenario gets thrown at you you have such an over abundance of the relevant skills that you can still overcome the challenge – and that exactly what Mr Meregali did!
