Legendary Marcelo Garcia Facing Tough Stomach Cancer Battle

It is a tough day for the BJJ community as Marcelo Garcia, one of the people considered to be the greatest of all time has made public his diagnosis of stomach cancer, along with the excruciating therapy and surgery that follows. The entire Jiu Jitsu community has been taken aback by the news, but support has been free-flowing for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend.

Marcelo Garcia Shocks The Grappling Community With Stomach Cancer Diagnosis

Marcelo Garcia is one of the best examples of someone making the most out of the Jiu Jitsu lifestyle in a respectful and undeniable manner. The 40-year-old was induced into the ADCC Hall of Fame during the latest edition of the event in September 2022, in recognition of his incredible 4 ADCC titles (in (2003, 2005, 2007, 2011) and highest submission rate ever in the promotion. 

His academy in New York is one of the most popular BJJ schools in the world, and he has been releasing instructionals through BJJ fanatics regularly for the past few years. He is also behind some of the best competitors to grace the mats in the past decade, from Emily Kwok to Matheus Diniz. 

Marcelo, a father of two, shocked everyone yesterday, announcing his diagnosis through his Instagram account by sharing an idyllic photo of him and his family on a beach. 

The man considered the BJJ G.O.A.T. for most of the 21st century is now “about to fight the biggest fight of his life” as per the post on his official Instagram account.

In a heartfelt post, Marcelo Garcia described the perilous situation he is in, sharing that he has a long road filled with chemotherapy in the following three months. Once that is done, hopefully, his condition will allow doctors to perform the necessary surgical procedure to remove the tumor completely.

Marcelo also thanked everyone who is supporting him, asking people to keep him and his family in their prayers.

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A post shared by Marcelo Garcia (@marcelogarciajiujitsu)

Finally, Marcelo Garcia being the gentleman that he is urges everyone to do regular checkups, sharing that the only symptom he had were hiccups. Luckily, he went to the doctor because of them and hopefully caught the cancer early enough to deal with it.

The Marcelo Garcia Jiu Jitsu Legacy

Marcelo Garcia has truly transformed the world of Jiu-Jitsu with both his competitive and teaching career. He has five IBJJF World Championship titles, three Brazilian Nationals, and one Pans title to his name, but is much more famous for his No-Gi efforts in the ADCC where he won three consecutive championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007, as well as adding a fourth title in 2011. He still has the highest submission rate in the ADCC to this day.

Marcello’s escapades really put him on the map, as he dominated everyone with arm drags and back takes in his first ADCC gold hunt in 2003. As people expected more of the same in 2005, he completely switched his game, utilizing the X-guard instead. He did the same for a third time, switching to the front headlock and guillotines and breaking a bunch of records in the process.

Marcelo has also open of the best academies in the world, where he teaches exactly the way he preaches and competes. Marcelo is not a fan of leg locks and has famously claimed that Kimuras are “strong man” moves, and he likes to avoid them. Marcelo Garcia also famously claimed (I think he still does) that you do not need to train strength and conditioning outside the gym if you approach rolling like your strength and conditioning.

Marcelo was also one of the first people to record instructionals that were well-structured and covered his entire game and ways to connect the dots in a time when BJJ DVDs were scarce, and good ones were as rare as black belts.

Simply put, Marcelo has really influenced Jiu-Jitsu in a way that very few others have over a period of decades.

BJJ Community Responds With Massive Support   

Marcelo’s unfortunate situation did not pass unnoticed in the BJJ community. As successful as Marcelo Garcia is, he does not have haters at all, being widely recognized as one of the most positive and friendly personalities in the sport. It is unsurprising that there are incredible amounts of support coming from the biggest names in BJJ, past, and present, wishing Marcelo luck and an easy road, and encouraging him to win his difficult battle.

Among those that commented on Marcelo’s post were the likes of Gordon Ryan, Rafael Lovato Jr, Claudia Gadelha, Bernardo Faria, the Mendes brothers, Xande Ribeiro, Eddie Bravo, and tens of thousands of others.

Ogi

Ogi is a black belt that does Jiu Jitsu full time and is very passionate about anything grappling-related.

He is also the head coach of Enso Jiu Jitsu in Macedonia and an aspiring Globetrotter.