Marcelo Garcia is ready to bring his talents back to the masses. The BJJ legend signed a deal with ONE Championship to return to active competition. While no date has been given for his return, Garcia was adamant he had never officially hung up his black belt.
“I don’t know if people realize it, but I never retired. Never ever did I say the word ‘retired.’ But it was definitely a plan to take time off of competition for two different reasons. One was that I was just not so excited to go compete, and I felt like I wanted time to focus on something that would make me happier. And at that moment, it was my gym in New York City. I was taking a lot of time, just teaching every day, not traveling, just focusing on my students. And then, once I had a kid, obviously, life turned upside down. And then I felt like, ‘Oh, I wanna be the best that I could as a father, as a dad. So I took that time,” Garcia commented to ONE.
With his child getting older, Garcia is finding a little more time to train and prepare for competition. For the last decade, he found it hard to have the same motivation that made him an icon. That is no longer the case, and after signing his new deal with ONE, Garcia is ready to give everything he can to be ready for whoever is opposite him.
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“For the last, like, 10 years, I was not motivated to train hard because I didn’t feel like there was somebody training to beat me. [But having a tough opponent] kinda always pushes me. In reality, when you’re training that hard, you have more bad days than good days. But I always felt like, ‘Okay, I can’t avoid this. I can’t rest today. I can’t sleep in. I have to do it.’ So I always feel like I have more discipline when I feel that somebody is training to go against me. I always feel I have to do more than that person,” the grappling legend said.
His time away was not entirely his choice. Garcia battled stomach cancer and underwent chemotherapy, which prevented him from getting on the mats. After securing that most important victory, the Brazilian is happy to chase all of his goals.
“It’s been so long that I haven’t been able to do everything that I would like to do. I feel like now I have the freedom to just do all the things that make me happy,” Garcia said.
Anytime a legend returns, they have immense options to choose from for where they would like to compete. The same can be said for Garcia. There was no shortage of opportunities for him to step back on the mats.
What made the BJJ master choose ONE? For Garcia, it was about feeling valued. He remarked that there is an appreciation for who he is on and off the mat, which was a deciding factor when putting ink to paper.
“I just like to be appreciated. I spent so much time in jiu-jitsu. In competition. I feel I always have given my best, and I feel like the appreciation from ONE Championship came at the right time. They value me. They value my time. And reality is I can name every organization that was trying to convince me to go compete. But then ONE, especially with Leozinho, Leo Vieira is somebody that is close to me, close to my family. He came in for us. If I wanna come back, I need to come back to an organization that values my work, that values my time, that appreciates the athlete. And that’s what I felt with ONE,” the Brazilian stated.
The highly-anticipated return may have no date, but Garcia has a simple message. The Brazilian wants everyone to know he will give 100% when he makes his way onto the global stage. Win or lose, Garcia will thrill the fans with a chance to watch a true master at work.
“I just know and I can promise that I’ll give everything I have. When I say everything I have, I know I’m gonna give my best, no matter what. I’m prepared to give a match, a fight, that people want to see,” Garcia said.
