André Galvão

MedalGold| 2004 | Absolute (brown) He is the author of the martial arts book Drill to Win: One Year to Better Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In 2022, Galvão was inducted into the IBJJF Hall of Fame and the ADCC Hall of Fame.

Submission grappling Galvão has won the 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (weight and absolute) Brazilian National Championship, World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and Pan American Championships multiple times and has also taken third place in the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship at both -77 kg and openweight. Despite his frequent competition success, Galvao has stated that he only began to learn Wrestling as an adult after he moved to America in 2008.

Galvão was a competitor in the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in Barcelona, Spain where he placed second in the -88 kg class. More recently, Galvao had a standout performance in 2011, first by winning the Ultimate Absolute NYC by defeating standouts Antonio Braga Neto, Vinny Magalhaes, and Rustam Cshiev. At the 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship Galvão captured gold in both the -88 kg and absolute weight classes defeating Rousimar Palhares and Pablo Popovitch, in each respective finals.

Galvão defeated Braulio Estima by rear naked choke in their Superfight at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

Galvão faced Chael Sonnen at Metamoris IV on August 9, 2014. He won the bout via a rear-naked choke submission.

On August 30, 2015, he defeated Roberto Abreu via points (6–0) at the 2015 ADCC Superfight.

At ADCC 2017, Galvão defeated Claudio Calasans via decision.

At ADCC 2019, Galvão defeated Felipe Pena via points (2–0).

Despite initially going back and forth on whether or not to retire from the sport altogether, Galvao confirmed in 2021 that he will be returning at least one more time to defend his ADCC superfight championships at the 2022 World Championship event. In November 2021, Galvao became part of the inaugural class of the ADCC Hall of Fame thanks to his records as the longest-serving superfight champion and most decorated competitor.

At ADCC 2022, Galvão lost his superfight title to Gordon Ryan, being submitted by a rear-naked choke.

Instructor lineage Mitsuyo Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. → Helio Gracie → Rolls Gracie → Romero Cavalcanti → Alexandre Paiva → Fernando "Tererê" Augusto → André Galvao

Controversy In early February 2026, former Atos athlete Alexa Herse publicly alleged that Andre Galvão engaged in inappropriate conduct and sexual misconduct during training, and stated that she filed a report with law enforcement. Galvão issued a public denial, calling the claims untrue and stating he would take legal steps to protect his reputation and Atos’ integrity. As of February 2026, no criminal conviction or court ruling has been reported in major news coverage. Several sources noted that some athletes, coaches, and affiliated gyms publicly announced that they were distancing themselves from Atos following the allegations. On February 4, 2026, Atos announced the immediate and indefinite release of Andre and his wife from their positions within the organization.

Mixed martial arts Galvão made his mixed martial arts debut in 2008, and in 2009 he entered DREAM's 2009 Welterweight Tournament.

Since completing the tournament, Galvão fought in Strikeforce. He earned a record of 2 wins and 1 loss in the promotion before retiring from the sport.

Despite being retired from MMA for over a decade, Galvão revealed on November 30, 2020, that he was planning on making a return to professional MMA competition at some point in 2021.

On November 8, 2021, it was announced that Galvão had signed a multi-fight contract with ONE Championship. He made his promotional debut in a grappling match against ONE Middleweight and ONE Light Heavyweight Champion Reinier de Ridder at ONE: X on March 26, 2022. They grappled to a draw after 12 minutes after neither could find the submission.

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Tyron Woodley TKO (punches) Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II

San Jose, California, United States Win

Jorge Patino TKO (punches) Strikeforce: Houston

Houston, Texas, United States Win

Luke Stewart Decision (split) Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe

Fresno, California, United States Loss

Jason High Decision (split) Dream 10

Saitama, Saitama, Japan DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Round Win

John Alessio Submission (armbar) Dream 8

Saitama, Saitama, Japan DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix Opening Round Win

Mikey Gomez Submission (armbar) FSC: Evolution

Ontario, Canada Win

Jeremiah Metcalf Submission (armbar) JG and TKT Promotions – Fighting 4 Kidz

Santa Monica, California, United States Submission grappling record Result Opponent Method Event Division Date Location

Published works Drill to Win: One Year to Better Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Victory Belt Publishing, 2010). The book focuses on "learning the transitional skills of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission wrestling through proper diet, calisthenics, and technical drills".