Mica Galvão admits he couldn’t pass the Miyao brothers’ guard
The champion tells VF Comunica why a training week with João and Paulo Miyao felt rejuvenating before his return to competition
Before returning to IBJJF competition, Mica Galvão spent a week training with twins João and Paulo Miyao, two of the hardest guards to pass in Jiu-Jitsu. In an interview with VF Comunica at the New Jersey Spring International Open in June 2026, the champion talked about the experience and gave a straight answer on whether he managed to pass the brothers’ guard.
“Obviously not, right?” he said, laughing.
A week that went beyond training
That short answer led to a bigger reflection. Mica was coming back from time away after becoming a father, and he said the Miyaos gave him more than good rounds.
“For me, training with them was much more than just an exchange or a training session. It was basically like there was a little hook pulling me up from down below,” he explained.
In his own words, the week helped him find himself on the mats again. “It was rejuvenating for me, because I was learning how to fish again. I was trying to figure out exactly where I fit.”
It showed in his body and in his game. Mica said he dropped some weight and came back with a looser, more natural Jiu-Jitsu, “the way I like it.” “It gave me new energy,” he said.
“João and Paulo are mutants”
In the same conversation, Vitor Freitas joked that after so much time training with the twins, people at the venue mistook Mica for a masters athlete. The champion answered with praise for his training partners. “João and Paulo are mutants. They’re two grown men out there, but their age is something else,” he said. “Now that I spent this week training with them, I realized they’re different.”
The comeback worked. In New Jersey, Mica took gold at medium-heavy and in the open class. In the interview, he was already talking about getting back into a competition rhythm and said that first tournament gave him a new spark. Months later, he was announced in the middleweight division of The Crown, on November 8 in Long Beach, California.
Watch the full interview below, released on June 23, 2026, on VF Comunica’s YouTube channel (in Portuguese).
Do you think training with specialists like the Miyaos can change a champion’s game? Let us know in the comments.
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