André Galvão

André Galvão, also known as “Deco” is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Luis “Careca” Dagmar, having also worked extensively with Fernando Terere. Galvão is regarded as one of the greatest competitors to have ever graced the sport, a reputation conquered through important titles such as IBJJF World Champion, IBJJF Pan American Champion (8x), and ADCC champion (2x).  André Galvão also competed in mixed martial arts (MMA), having retired from cage-fighting with a record of 5-2-0 to lead the Atos Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Heading the team’s headquarters in San-Diego, CA Galvão established one of the strongest BJJ teams in of the modern era of the sport.

Andre Galvao Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: André Luiz Leite Galvão

Nickname: “Deco” which is a common short name for André in Portuguese.

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Reyson Gracie > Osvaldo Alves > Luis Dagmar > André Galvão

Main Achievements:

• ADCC Superfight Open Class Winner (2013 / 2015 / 2017 / 2019)
• 1st Place ADCC World Championship (2011**)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2005 / 2008 / 2014*** / 2016 / 2017)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pans Championship (2005 / 2008** / 2006 / 2011 / 2013 / 2014** / 2016)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro (2012 / 2013 / 2014)
• 1st Place CBJJO World Cup (2006)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2015**)
• 1st Place CBJJE World Championship (2008)
• 1st Place Ultimate Absolute NYC (2011)
• 2nd Place ADCC World Championship (2009)
• 2nd Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro (2012* / 2016)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan American Championship (2016*)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship (2008* / 2013)
• 3rd Place ADCC World Championship (2007**)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute
*** The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) awarded the title to Galvao after the tournament as Felipe Pena tested positive for PED’s.

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championships (2002 blue / 2003** purple / 2004** brown)
• 1st Place CBJJO World Cup (2003** purple / 2004** brown)

* Absolute
** Weight and absolute

Favorite Technique: Guard Passing

Weight Division: Meio Pesado (88,30 kg / 195.0 lbs)

Team/Association: Atos Academy

André Galvão Biography

André Galvão was born September 29, 1982, in São Sebastião, São Paulo – Brazil.

The Galvão family moved to Vale da Paraíba region when André was a child, and it was there that “Deco” initiated his martial arts education through judo. Calasans Camargo, the father to ADCC champion Claudio Calasans, became involved in André’s judo life from early on having gifted Galvão his very first gi (kimono).

André initiated his jiu-jitsu career influenced by his brother who was already a BJJ student. Luis Carlos Dagmar, also known as “Careca”, was André Galvão’s first coach in this discipline. Careca, who himself was a former student of Osvaldo Alves, soon realized André’s talent and advised him to go and train with Fernando Tererê.

Galvão was only 16 years old at the time (two years into Deco’s training), but Dagmar believed André’s special talent would be better served in a more competitive environment, considering his own academy as too small for Deco’s future.

Under the guidance of Tererê, André Galvão’s skills evolved by leaps and bounds. Fernando was one of the sport’s main competitors at the time, a world champion and a Pound for Pound best in the early 2000s. Galvão would follow Terere throughout his split with the Alliance team the birth of Master and shortly after TT, during almost 3 years where he remained undefeated in the purple belt division. During this period André was the first purple belt ever to win the IBJJF ‘Grand Slam’ (World Championship, Pan American Championship, and Brazilian Nationals).

After 9 victorious months as a purple belt, André received his brown belt from Fernando. As a brown belt, the victorious run continued, with only one loss, to Ricardo Abreu in the absolute division of the Copa do Brasil.

André Galvão was due to receive his black belt in mid-2005, unfortunately, this clashed with a series of incidents that turned Tererê’s attention away from jiu-jitsu. With Fernando absent from the sport, Terere’s right-hand man and TT partner Eduardo Telles drove Galvão to the town where he grew up, so André could have the honor of receiving his black belt from his original instructor, Master Dagmar.

As Tererê left the sport due to well-documented personal problems, André Galvão ended up leaving his team (TT) to join Brasa Clube de Jiu-Jitsu.

Throughout his early career, Galvão believed in inconsistency and repetition, and unlike most top competitors, he dedicated himself to fighting in all tournaments, not just the major ones. He often mentioned that he relied on this to keep improving his skill set.

Andre won 4 World Championships in a row, from blue belt to black belt (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) winning his weight and the open weight classes in two years in a row – purple belt and brown belt division (2003 and 2004). He made the final in 2006 and 2007 but couldn’t capitalize on 1st place. Gold came again in 2008. In that same year, André Galvão joined the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) obtaining a submission victory over Jeremiah Metcalf, a former Strikeforce fighter.

In October 2008 Galvão joined his good friend Ramon Lemos and founded a new jiu-jitsu team. The pair had a strong evangelic background (André is also a deacon) and brought their religious beliefs to the mats, calling their name Atos (acts) as in the Acts of the Apostles book.

Having turned into a professional MMA fighter in 2008, Galvão fought in some of the world’s top promotions, including DREAM (Japan) and Strikeforce (USA). He left Strikeforce by his own accord after a good year (2010). At the time he had plans to join The Ultimate Fighter TV show (as explained in his interview to BJJ Heroes on January 2010), though the plans did not follow through.

André Galvão returned to jiu-jitsu competitions on March 7, 2010, winning the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials in San Diego, California (under 183lbs), winning also the Pan American a few weeks later – submitting all his opponents, except Eduardo Santoro in the final.

After moving to San Diego with his spouse Angelica Galvão (also an active competitor), Andre became the head coach of Atos headquarters while also picking up a position as a deacon in an evangelical church, Project New Life.

Continuously “stepping it up”, Galvao was remarkable at the 2011 edition of the ADCC, the world’s most prestigious grappling event, winning gold in both his weight and the absolute division, proving why he is considered one of the best in the world.

Andre Galvao website: atosjiujitsuhq.com

NOTE REGARDING ANDRÉ GALVÃO’S BJJ RECORD

Mr. Galvão became a black belt competitor in 2005, 10 years prior to BJJ Heroes starting its grappling match bookkeeping. Although we have managed to recover many historical matches from André Galvão’s career for our records, the list here displayed does not depict the totality of André’s career matches as some are not accounted for.

Andre Galvao vs James Harbison (Houston Open, 2012)

Andre Galvao vs Martin Suarez (this is a famous video that has circled the internet, the man fighting with Galvao goes for an illegal reaping of the knee, which upsets Galvao, 2008)

Andre Galvao vs Rodolfo Vieira (ADCC Brazilian Trials, 2009)