BJJ Stars returned to Sao Paulo, Brazil for its 8th event. Their middleweight grand prix included some of the best modern day jiu jitsu champions, including Leandro Lo and Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa. While fans were excited to watch these athletes compete again, there was one name in the bracket that added extra excitement to the show. Mica Galvao of Fight Sports Brazil is one of the most promising young black belts in jiu jitsu. He’s been equally impressive in both gi and no gi competitions and fans were thrilled about potential matchups with the aforementioned World champions.

Mica faced Leando Lo in the first round in perhaps the most highly anticipated match of the event. He decided to play closed guard to start things off, using a series of off balancing techniques to threaten sweeps and submissions. It was an armbar attempt from bottom that earned Mica an advantage to take the lead in the match. Lo did his best to initiate guard pass attempts but was unable to complete them as Mica held on for the win.

In the semi-final match Mica faced Mauricio Oliveira, an Alliance black belt and Brazilian National champion. Mauricio pulled guard and swept Mica, but unfortunately had to withdraw from the match due to an injury suffered to his knee while he was in top position. This put Mica into the final where he faced 2021 World champion Lucas “Hulk” Barbosa. Hulk recently announced a move to mixed martial arts, but has kept competing in jiu-jitsu in order to keep his skillset sharp. In his semi-final match, he hit a beautiful armbar off of a guard pass. 

The final started as a takedown battle. Mica and the Hulk looked for judo and wrestling style takedowns but each had good defensive posture and positioning. The Hulk went for a seoi nage that Mica avoided and countered with a takedown of his own. He forced Hulked to turn his back and jumped on a choke that he finished to win the GP and solidify the best performance of his career so far. 

Another highly anticipated match was between ten time World champion Beatriz Mesquita and Julia Boscher. Julia received her black belt in 2019 and is a black belt Brazilian National champion. The no gi ADCC rules match started with both athletes working for a takedown. It wasn’t until about three minutes into the match that Mesquita was able to get the match to the floor. She hit an arm drag into a double leg and was able to pass the guard just a few moments after. Mesquita locked up a Kimura from the north south position and transitioned beautifully into ann armbar that forced Julia to tap.

Full results for the event can be found below:

Lucas Barbosa def. Roberto Jimenez via points (2-0)

Leonardo Lara def. Wallisson Oliveira via points (5-2)

Mica Galvao def. Leandro Lo via advantage (1-0)

Mauricio Oliveira def. Pedro Machada via decision

Lucas Barbosa def. Leonardo Lara via submission (armbar)

Mica Galvao def. Mauricio Oliveira via injury (knee)

Mica Galvao def. Lucas Barbosa via submission (choke from the back)

Demian Maia def. Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira via submission (triangle choke)

Felipe Pena def. Henrique Cardoso via penalties (2-0)

Gutemberg Pereira def. Fellipe Andrew via submission (guillotine)

Fabricio Andrey def. Alex Sodre via decision

Beatriz Mesquita def. Julia Boscher via submission (armbar)

Marcos Petcho def. Lucas Protasio via submission (guillotine)

Mariana Rolszt def. Thais Loureiro via submission (armbar)