Nationality Brazilian Weight 70 kg Name Marcelo Garcia Spouse Tatiana Garcia | Role Grappler Team Alliance Jiu Jitsu Height 1.73 m | |
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Born January 17, 1983 (age 41)
Formiga, Minas Gerais, Brazil ( 1983-01-17 ) Rank 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Residence New York City, New York, United States | ||
Marcelo "Marcelinho" Garcia (born January 17, 1983) is a Brazilian grappler and jiu-jitsu competitor widely considered to be one of the best grapplers and arguably the best pound for pound submission grappler in the world. Garcia is a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Gurgel of Team Alliance.
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Biography
Garcia has five world championship titles in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a black belt in the middle-weight category. He has many submission grappling titles, including the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. At ADCC, Marcelo has won the 66–76 kg division four times (2003/2005/2007/2011), been awarded the most technical fighter twice (2003 and 2007) and won the best fight award in 2005. In 2005, he finished in third place in the absolute (open weight) division and in 2007 finished second in the absolute division. In ADCC 2009, Marcelo finished second in his weight division, losing by points to Pablo Popovitch, whom he had defeated in the two previous finals.
At K-1 HERO'S Korea 2007, Marcelo lost his MMA debut against Dae Won Kim twenty seconds into the second round by doctor's stoppage due to a cut above his eye. It was announced that Garcia has joined up with American Top Team in Florida in order to improve his MMA skills. He will continue to fight in BJJ competitions under the Alliance team while representing ATT at MMA events.
In September 2008, Marcelo opened up a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Pembroke Pines, a city in South Florida located between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. In September 2009, Marcelo opened an academy in New York City. In addition, Marcelo has teamed up with child chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin to create MGinAction, an online training database that includes recorded instruction from Marcelo's classes in addition to Marcelo's daily sparring sessions.
Instructor Lineage
Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. → Helio Gracie → Rolls Gracie → Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti → Fabio Gurgel → Marcelo Garcia