{"id":37994,"date":"2026-04-29T14:54:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Prominent-Brazilian-jiujitsu-coach-arrested-on-suspicion-of-sexual-abuse-201012"},"modified":"2026-04-29T14:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:54:46","slug":"prominent-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-coach-arrested-on-suspicion-of-sexual-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/prominent-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-coach-arrested-on-suspicion-of-sexual-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Prominent Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

Considered by many to be the greatest ju-jitsu coach in Brazil
\ntoday, even called the Brazilian John Danahar, Melquizael Galvao
\nwas arrested on Tuesday in Brazil for suspected sexual crimes
\nagainst female students in Manaus.<\/p>\n

The father of Micael Galv\u00e3o (Mica), considered the biggest name in
\njiu-Jjtsu in Brazil today, Melqui is also a civil police officer in
\nthe state of Amazonas.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The temporary arrest was decreed after complaints gathered by the
\n8th Women’s Defense Police Station (DDM), which is investigating
\nreports of abuse involving at least three victims. According to the
\npolice, the complainants presented a recording in which the suspect
\nindirectly admits to the incident and tries to prevent the case
\nfrom going forward, with the promise of financial compensation. The
\n13-minute audio recording of Melquizael’s plea to the victim’s
\nparents went viral throughout the jiu-jitsu community. In the
\nrecording, the coach acknowledges his mistake, swears remorse,
\npromises financial compensation to the student’s parents, and even
\nmentions suicide if they proceed with reporting him.<\/p>\n

During the investigation, two other possible victims were
\nidentified in different states of the country. In their
\ntestimonies, they reported similar episodes. In one of the cases,
\nthe victim stated that she was 12 years old at the time of the
\nevents.<\/p>\n

According to the police, Melqui Galv\u00e3o had traveled less than 24
\nhours earlier to the state of Amazonas, where he also works as a
\ncivil police officer. After contact between the corporations, he
\npresented himself to the authorities in Manaus, where his arrest
\nwas carried out.<\/p>\n

The case has generated strong repercussions in the jiu-jitsu
\ncommunity. The suspect is known in the sports world and is the
\nfather of multi-champion Mica Galv\u00e3o, who, after several world
\ntitles and the ADCC, had already been planning the migration to MMA
\nin the welterweight division. In addition to Mica, Melqui also
\ntrained champions from the white belt level, such as Diogo Reis
\n(2022 ADCC champion), Fabricio Andrey and Thalison Soares.<\/p>\n

Mica Galvao Reacts<\/h2>\n

After Melqui’s departure, 22-year-old Mica Galv\u00e3o, who now resides
\nin the United States and has a son with Olympic champion Amit Elor,
\nborn in January 2026 (Aryeh Elor Galv\u00e3o), took over leadership of
\nthe team. On his Instagram, Mica made an official statement saying
\nhe was devastated by what happened, but asking that justice be
\nserved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to find words for a moment like this,\u201d he wrote.
\n\u201cMy father, Melqui Galv\u00e3o, was the one who put me on the mat for
\nthe first time as a child. He taught me to fight, to compete, to
\nrespect my opponent, and to have character. Everything I have
\nachieved in life has his hand in it. My gratitude and love for him
\nare real and will not change. At the same time, I feel obligated to
\nbe honest. May the facts be investigated seriously and may justice
\nfulfill its role. I repudiate any type of harassment against women
\nand children. This is a value I carry and for which I make no
\nexceptions. I am processing all of this as a son, an athlete, and a
\nhuman being. I move forward taking care of the team with the same
\nrespect and dedication as always.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Melquizael case is yet another case of harassment against
\nfemale students that shakes the gigantic jiu-jitsu community in
\nBrazil and the U.S.. Before Melquizael, in February 2026,
\nmulti-world champion Andre Galv\u00e3o, who despite having the same last
\nname is not related to Melqui, had also been denounced by a
\nstudent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Considered by many to be the greatest ju-jitsu coach in Brazil today, even called the Brazilian John Danahar, Melquizael Galvao was arrested on Tuesday in Brazil for suspected sexual crimes against female students in Manaus. The father of Micael Galv\u00e3o (Mica), considered the biggest name in jiu-Jjtsu in Brazil today, Melqui is also a civil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}