André Galvão returns to competition at 44 and fights his student Natã Tenca for the Pan No-Gi title
In his first tournament since ADCC 2022, the Atos black belt won three matches in the adult division and reached the super-heavy final against the athlete he promoted this year
André Galvão is back in competition and back in a final. At 44, the Atos black belt won three matches in the adult division of the 2026 Pan No-Gi. The adult division is the main one. Athletes over 30 can choose to fight in the masters divisions instead, against people of their own age group. The Pan No-Gi is one of the biggest tournaments of the year for Jiu-Jitsu without the gi, the traditional uniform, and it is run by the IBJJF, the sport’s main federation. Galvão fights for the super-heavy title this Sunday (October 4) in Secaucus, New Jersey. His opponent is Natã Tenca, his own student, who received his black belt from him this year. The final is expected at 5:10 PM Eastern Time.
Three wins in the adult division
Galvão started on Saturday with a win over Amr Ghoneim (Joslin’s Mixed Martial Arts). On Sunday he beat Jean Luca Maltese (Alliance) in the quarterfinals and Sergio Vilas (Team Lloyd Irvin) in the semifinals. His last competition match before this weekend was the superfight against Gordon Ryan at ADCC 2022. ADCC is the biggest no-gi grappling event in the world, and a superfight is a single special match between two top names.
After the first day, he wrote on social media: “44. Adult division. Still here. Not done yet.”
Coach against student
On the other side of the bracket, Natã Tenca also won three times. He beat Jefferson Batista (Crow Jiu-Jitsu) on Saturday, submitted Kasper Larsen (Rohde Jiu-Jitsu) in the quarterfinals and beat Marcelo Montoro (Fabricio JJ International) in the semifinals. Tenca was a brown belt world champion in 2026. Right after that title, he received his black belt from Galvão and Angelica Galvão.
Who takes the super-heavy gold: the coach or the student? Leave your pick in the comments.
