Andre Galvao – “Deco” The King of Grappling

Andre Galvao, commonly known as Deco, is a 4^th degree BJJ black belt under Luis Dagmar, and a renowned grappler who has worked extensively with Fernando Terere.

Deco is considered one of the finest competitors in the sport's history, having won many titles such as the IBJJF Pan American Champion (10 x), ADCC World Champion (6 x), IBJJF World Champion (10 x), IBJJF European Champion (2 x) and UAEJJF World Pro Cup Champion (3 x).

Andre Galvao also participated in mixed martial arts (MMA), retiring with a 5-2-0 record before becoming the head of the Atos Jiu-Jitsu Academy in California.

Galvao developed one of the strongest BJJ teams in the current history of the sport, leading the team's headquarters in San Diego. The Atos Squad is widely regarded as one of the best in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Galvao also wrote a book about martial arts titled “Drill to Win: One Year to Better BJJ” in 2010.

Currently, Andre is serving as the head coach at Atos Academy to many world champions and travels the world teaching jiu-jitsu skills, ideas, self-defense inspiration, and a jiu-jitsu lifestyle.

Andre Galvao was born in São Sebastiao, Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 29, 1982.

When Andre was a child, his family moved to the Vale da Paraiba region, where he began his martial arts education via judo. The father of ADCC Champion Claudio Calasans, Calasans Camargo, was an early supporter of Deco’s judo career, having given him his first gi (kimono).

Galvao began his jiu-jitsu career after being encouraged by his brother, who was a BJJ student at that time. Andre’s first coach was Luis Carlos Dagmar, also known as Careca. Andre’s talent was quickly recognized by Careca, who himself was a former student of Osvaldo Alves.

Galvao was just 16 at the time with only two years of training. Dagmar thought André's exceptional skill would serve better in a more competitive atmosphere, believing his academy to be too small for Deco's future. Therefore, Dagmar suggested Andre go train with Fernando Terere.

Deco’s talents improved dramatically under the guidance of Terere. Fernando was a world champion and a pound-for-pound best in the early 2000s, being one of the sport's most prominent fighters at the time.

Andre followed Terere for over three years throughout his break with the Alliance team, the birth of Master team, and shortly after the TT team, remaining undefeated in the purple belt class.

Galvao went on to win double gold medals in the IBJJF World Championship and CBJJO World Cup (now extinct) as a purple belt.

During that period, Andre became the first purple belt ever to win the IBJJF Grand Slam (Brazilian Nationals, Pan American Championships, and World Championship).

Andre Galvao obtained his brown belt from Fernando Terere after nine months of victorious purple belt training.

As a brown belt, he extended his winning streak, with only one loss in the Absolute Division to Ricardo Abreu at Copa do Brazil.

Andre was scheduled to obtain his black belt in mid-2005, but this coincided with a series of events that diverted Terere's focus away from jiu-jitsu.

Because Fernando was out of the sport, Terere’s TT (Alliance jiu-jitsu team) partner and right-hand man Eduardo Telles took Andre to his hometown so Galvao could receive his black belt from his first master, Master Dagmar.

When Terere departed the sport due to personal issues, Andre left the TT team and joined Brasa Clube de Jiu-Jitsu

Andre believed in repetition and consistency throughout his early career. Unlike other top fighters , he dedicated himself to competing in all tournaments, not just the large ones. He frequently stated that he relied on this to continue to improve his skillset

In October 2008, Andre Galvao formed a new jiu-jitsu team with his good friend, Ramon Lemos. The pair came to the mats with a strong evangelical background and named themselves Atos (Acts) after the book of Acts from the Apostles.

Andre won four World Championships consecutively, from blue to black belt (2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005), winning open weight classes and his weight class two years in a row within the purple and brown belt divisions (2003 and 2004). Andre reached the finals in 2006 and 2007 but was unable to win first place.

Andre Galvao finally won a gold medal in the 2008 World Championship and entered the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) within the same year.

On March 7, 2010, Galvao returned to jiu-jitsu contests and won the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials in San Diego, California while under 183 lbs.

Galvao also won the Pan American a few weeks later, beating all of his opponents, except Eduardo Santoro in the finals.

Andre became the head coach of Atos Headquarters after moving to San Diego with his wife, Angelica Galvao (also a strong competitor). He also became a deacon at Project New Life, an evangelical church.

Galvao continued to "step it up" in 2011, winning double golds in his weight class and the Absolute Division at the ADCC and IBJJF Pans, the world's most prestigious grappling events, demonstrating why he is considered one of the finest in the world.

In 2015, Andre again won double golds at the European Open Championship and established himself as one of the best fighters in the sport.

Andre Galvao was added to the ADCC Hall of Fame in November 2021 due to his remarkable achievements (six ADCC titles, more than any other competitor in ADCC history). With this, Galvao became the second competitor ever to be inducted into the ADCC Hall of fame after Roger Gracie.

Deco began his professional mixed martial arts career in 2008 and made his debut against former Strikeforce fighter Jeremiah Metcalf, winning the match via submission.

Andre then competed in some of the world's most prestigious organizations, including DREAM (Japan) and Strikeforce (USA).

Deco entered DREAM’S Welterweight Tournament in 2009 and went on to compete in Strikeforce.

After a successful year with Strikeforce, Andre Galvao decided to leave MMA in 2010. Before retiring, Andre had a record of two wins and one loss by the time of the promotion.

Though Galvao retired from MMA for a decade, he announced on Nov 30, 2020, that he will return to MMA fights at some point in 2021.

He had planned to join The Ultimate Fighter TV show but those arrangements never fell through. It was revealed that Andre signed a multi-fight contract with ONE Championship on Nov 8, 2021.

Andre Galvano announced his retirement from the sport in September 2018, at the age of 35.

Andre Galvao will continue to coach at Atos Jiu-Jitsu, the world-famous academy he co-founded. 

He wants to lead his squad to be not only mat champions but also people who can overcome hardships and become better people , living their dreams just like he did.

Apart from that, Andre is all set to fight again in 2022 at ADCC World Championship.

The most anticipated match in the history of ADCC is about to happen.

It was recently announced by ADCC that Andre Galvao will defend his super fight title in the 2022 ADCC Championship against his life-long rival, Gordon Ryan (double gold medalist and the ecent top pound-for-pound No-Gi fighter).

Andre has created a body of work that is unrivaled. The grappling king has left a remarkable legacy, inspiration for the coming BJJ generations. 

Galvo has won every major jiu-jitsu competition many times won the most prestigious competition in submission grappling - the ADCC and won three super fights while coaching a tiny team to the top of the sport's ladder.

All of these things will be part of Galvao's legacy, which BJJ fans will be debating for many years to come.

Established in 2008, Atos is now widely regarded as the world's best jiu-jitsu academy, a position that took Galvo and the entire team over 10 years to reach.

Lessons at Atos BJJ begin as soon as three years old. Furthermore, the curriculum is meant to assist all types of people in achieving their goals both on and off the mats.

Atos can assist experienced athletes or those who seek to improve their skills . Regardless of age or ability, this establishment is ready to assist people in achieving their martial arts dreams.

In 2010, Andre published his book, “Drill to Win: One Year to Better BJJ,” as a result of his practical experience on the mat.

Andre was among the first martial artists to produce a book on BJJ, his work being widely regarded as one of the most accessible. The book is available on Amazon.

The book explains how to integrate BJJ techniques and drills in an unbreakable way. It can be used as a reference for properly drilling BJJ and is a wonderful resource for any BJJ practitioner, whether new or experienced.

Andre is married to Angelica, the love of his life, and has a daughter named Sarah Galvao.

Angelica is also a professional BJJ fighter who has competed in and won many tournaments. Their daughter, Sarah also followed in their footsteps and chose to pursue a career in BJJ.

Sarah has recently won double golds at the 2022 LA International Open IBJJF Championship and is ready to embark on her future endeavors. 

Deco made his promotional debut against Reiner de Ridder at ONE X on March 26, 2022, in a submission-only grappling match.

It was a historic fight as both competitors performed exceptionally well, without giving each other a chance to submit. When neither of them could finish the other after 12 minutes of grappling, a draw was declared by the referee.

Andre Galvao achieved a historic victory against Felipe Pena in Sep 2019 at the ADCC World Championship, winning his fourth consecutive ADCC Superfight.

The match was intense at times, but slow and deliberate at others. The fight lasted the entire 30 minutes, including overtime.

Andre scored a takedown early in the bout, but it was before the points were recorded, thus he didn't get credit for it. Pena then spent a large amount of time attempting to sweep his competitor, but time ran out before he could do so.

Galvao attempted another takedown in overtime, but this time he went out of bounds. Galvao's second takedown also fell out of bounds, but when the referee re-started the battle, he got on top of Pena, winning the two points he needed to win

Andre displayed a remarkable performance at the 2017 IBJJF Championship and defeated Patrick Gaudio in the finals via split decision.

Deco used his guard to fully control the direction of the fight for most of the match. Galvao’s guard was so tight that Patrick’s attempts were rendered useless, leaving the referee no choice but to call a penalty for passivity. 

• ADCC World Championships
• IBJJF World Championships
• CBJJO World Cup
• CBJJE World Championship
• IBJJF Pan American Championships
• UAEJJF Abu Dhabi Pro
• ADCC Superfight
• Ultimate Absolute NYC
• Men’s Submission Wrestling

Andre Galvao MMA Highlights

Reinier De Ridder vs. Andre Galvao

ADCC 2011 Andre Galvao vs Rousimar Palhares

Andre Galvao vs Romulo Barral at Berkut Jiu Jitsu 2

Photo credit: @galvaobjj , @evolve-vacation