Leleo Souza calls Crown opener vs. Mica Galvão a gift

Leonardo “Leleo” Souza sees his opening match against Mica Galvão at The Crown as a chance to introduce himself to a much bigger audience. In an interview with VF Comunica, the Six Blades black belt talked about the first-round middleweight match, set for November 8 at the Pyramid in Long Beach, California.

What Leleo said about facing Mica

Asked about taking on one of the most accomplished athletes in the sport right at the start of the event, Leleo said:

“I actually see this match as a great opportunity, because I’ve always admired Mica a lot. And, man, being invited to this event and drawing him in the first match is a huge gift for me, because I know it will bring a lot of visibility, and with a win, a lot of people are going to know who Leleo is.”

The gap in reach helps explain that answer. Mica has 1.4 million Instagram followers, while Leleo has 10,500, even with a Grand Slam title on his résumé.

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From Brazil’s Federal District to a European title

Leleo, 24, grew up in Riacho Fundo II, in Brazil’s Federal District, and entered his first tournament at 13. He received his black belt from Pedro Maia on November 10, 2023, and had his breakthrough at the 2025 Europeans, where he won all four of his matches by submission.

The final showed exactly how he competes. Down four points to Lucas Protásio with less than two minutes left, he turned the match around and finished with a lapel choke. Months later, he took bronze at Worlds.

A season between lightweight and middleweight

His 2026 season opened with a points loss to Mateo Cardona in a superfight at the IBJJF Grand Prix. He moved up to middleweight at Pans and took bronze after losing to Elijah Dorsey in the semifinals. At Worlds, he went back to lightweight and lost 2-0 to Igor Feliz.

The second half of the year has been stronger. At Jiu-Jitsu CON, he won the 79 kg no-gi division and reached the gi middleweight and open class semifinals, losing both to Tarcisio Santos. In September, he submitted opponents in the middleweight and open class divisions at the San Antonio Fall Open.

The size of the challenge

Mica will make his Crown debut after returning to IBJJF competition in June with gold at medium-heavyweight and in the open class at the New Jersey Spring Open. In 2024, he won Europeans, Pans, Brazilian Nationals, Worlds and ADCC in the same season to complete the Super Grand Slam.

VF Comunica’s analysis of the brackets has Mica as the favorite, while pointing out that the match has a good chance of ending early. Leleo tends to compete with the finish in mind, as he told the IBJJF in February: “The audience can expect a great fight, and they should know that my goal is to always go for the finish.”

How the middleweight bracket lines up

The winner moves on to the semifinals to face the winner of Uanderson Ferreira vs. José Steve. On the other side of the bracket, Andy Murasaki goes for a third straight title against Rafael Gamba, while Tarcisio Santos meets Natan Chueng.

Each of the six divisions has eight athletes and pays $20,000 to the champion. The event streams exclusively on FloGrappling.

Can Leleo pull off the upset?

Will Mica live up to the favorite’s role, or will Leleo make a lot of people find out who he is? Leave your pick in the comments.

VF Comunica’s full coverage of The Crown is presented by Kingz.

Read also:

• Mica Galvão draws Leleo Souza in his Crown 2026 debut
• The Crown 2026: five matchups that could happen in Long Beach
• The Crown: what is the IBJJF invitational and how it works