Teen phenom Mica Galvão is now a black belt in luta livre.
The 17-year-old athlete was promoted to the prestigious rank by Totonho Aleixo, who is also the luta livre coach of Mica’s father and BJJ coach, Melqui Galvão. The elder Galvão is a one-stripe black belt in luta livre.
Mica shared the exciting news on social media:
“Today, at the age of 17, I received from the hands of the master @totonhoaleixo the BLACK BAND of BRAZILIAN SPORT LUTA LIVRE with the endorsement of @cbllelutalivre. I really didn’t expect this promotion but I was very HAPPY and HONORED with this tribute (responsibility). I practice wrestling in a complementary way to my jiu-jitsu since I was little and in the last TWO YEARS I have been intensifying my training. TODAY 40% of my preparation is without the use of the gi. The objective is to be competitive in the two modalities, JIU-JITSU and LUTA LIVRE and to be able to give pride to the Brazilian people.“
The belt system for luta livre starts at white and then goes to yellow, orange, blue, purple, brown, and finally, black.
Mica is currently a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu — a rank he earned in October from his father. He’s considered one of the top up-and-comers in the BJJ scene, at one point having a winning streak of over a hundred matches.
