Patreon: https://patreon.com/UnknownPressures | Nicholas Meregali is one of the greatest grapplers in the world, but his social media game leaves a lot to be desired.
When he's not posting selfies, he's talking trash to his opponents and taunting them ahead of their matches. Case in point: his upcoming bout with Felipe Pena. Meregali pulled off a strange stunt that left many people shocked and confused by announcing only 10 days out from the match that he was withdrawing for personal reasons, only to recant his statement less than 24 hours later and reveal it was all a prank.
Genius promotion for a match that was otherwise getting little traction outside of the Portuguese-speaking community, or ill-advised stunt that probably had the promoters in a twist? We discuss this and more in this week's episode of Unknown Pressures.
Also in this episode:
- Jiu-jitsu has a TRT problem, and it's worse than you think
- Can a professional grappler completely ignore posting to social media?
- UFC BJJ's Open tournaments are shaping up very differently to how we expected
- Q&A time! We opened our inboxes and respond to your questions...
Scroll to the bottom of this post for timestamps for this episode.
Episode 45 of Unknown Pressures is out now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere else.
Support us on Patreon for extended episodes, early access, bonus content and more!
Unknown Pressures is a jiu-jitsu podcast brought to you by two long-time industry insiders: Matt Benyon, the co-founder of Scramble and Polaris, and Hywel Teague, jiu-jitsu / grappling commentator and analyst.
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Timestamps
0:00 Nicholas Meregali tried to rug pull the jiu-jitsu world
11:06 Let’s be honest here, TRT is a PED
24:39 How NOT to do social media as a pro athlete
33:48 UFC BJJ Opens: a success with the kids
41:25 Q&A: Sakuraba vs Aoki, who has the better legacy?
