Mica Galvao Closed BJJ College And Launched Mika Jiu-Jitsu — Diogo Reis Already Out, Andrey Still 'Evaluating'

Something genuinely chaotic unfolded in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Mica Galvao started the week employed by his father's organization. He ended it with his own. In between those bookends sat an arrest, a co-leadership announcement that lasted roughly 72 hours, a roster that scattered like a kicked anthill, and the formal closure of BJJ College—replaced by Mika Jiu-Jitsu, same letters rearranged, entirely different ownership structure, and an empty roster to match.

Looking back now, 28 days later, the sequence of events that destroyed one of Brazil's most decorated teams reads almost too theatrical to be real. But it happened, and the ripples haven't finished settling.

The week that unraveled

On April 28, 2026, Melquisedeque "Melqui" Galvão—Mica's father and the founder of BJJ College—was taken into custody in Manaus. The charges were devastating: sexual misconduct against minors. According to BJJEE's reporting at the time, three alleged victims were identified, including a girl who was 12 years old during the period when the alleged incidents occurred. The response from the sport's governing bodies was swift and unambiguous. The IBJJF and CBJJ issued a joint statement and imposed a permanent ban, effective immediately on every event they sanction.

Within 24 hours, the damage control began in earnest. On April 29, Mica Galvao publicly distanced himself from his father. Diogo Reis did the same. Olympic gold medalist Amit Elor, who had trained with the team, made clear she was stepping back. BJJ College's official announcement came next: Melqui was removed from leadership, and the organization would continue under the co-stewardship of Mica Galvao and Diogo Reis—two of the most decorated grapplers in Brazil, theoretically positioned to hold the structure upright while it weathered the crisis.

That arrangement lasted approximately three days before it fractured completely.

Diogo Reis, for context, is an ADCC champion who won the 77kg division and was widely considered one of the best no-gi competitors operating anywhere at that level. He had just agreed to anchor the reconstruction of a team that had just lost its founder to a criminal investigation. Then he reconsidered. His departure statement was terse and unambiguous: an "irreconcilable conflict between what this situation has revealed and what I stand for as a person." There were no well-wishes. No talk of staying connected to Mica personally. It was a clean break, and it signaled that the rebuilding effort was already collapsing.

What happened next was the move that actually defined the moment. Instead of trying to salvage BJJ College or negotiate a comeback for Diogo Reis, Mica closed the organization entirely and launched Mika Jiu-Jitsu in its place. Not a rebrand. Not a strategic renaming. An actual organizational closure followed by a fresh entity bearing his own name, without his father's.

The roster that evaporated

Within days, the departures became almost absurd in their totality. Yatan Bueno, an IBJJF world champion, was out. Brenda Larissa departed. Luiz Paulo left. The team that had been counted among the strongest rosters in Brazilian jiu-jitsu—the kind of lineup that produces champions and develops future contenders—ended the week with most of its recognizable names either confirmed gone or operating in ambiguous territory.

Fabricio Andrey, an absolute standout, occupied the strangest position in this exodus. He didn't face the same agonizing decision as Diogo Reis. He had already made his choice months before any arrest, any scandal, any organizational collapse. When he left BJJ College earlier, his reasoning was stark: "I felt like I wasn't being valued the way I deserved it. I think it's about respect." He had landed at Alliance, seeking an environment where his contributions would be recognized.

That decision, made for entirely separate reasons well before the May crisis, suddenly looked prophetic in ways Andrey probably never anticipated. He wasn't leaving because of what would later explode into criminal charges and bans. He was leaving because of what was already dysfunction within the organization—dynamics around respect, athlete value, and team culture. His reasons turned out to be the less dramatic ones, born from normal competitive frustration rather than institutional catastrophe. But they proved just as valid.

Where Andrey stood regarding Mika Jiu-Jitsu remained publicly unsettled even as the dust began to settle. He hadn't announced he was in. He hadn't announced he was out. He was at Alliance, maintaining his commitment there. That made him the only person in this entire story still holding a genuine maybe—someone who had positioned himself outside the wreckage before it became wreckage, and now had the luxury of watching what Mica actually managed to build before deciding anything.

What Mica actually did (and why it mattered)

This part deserves more attention than it initially received.

When a team's founder faces criminal allegations this serious, the standard institutional response is usually slow and carefully managed. Statements get released. Internal reviews get announced. Language remains cautious. Accountability defers to process. That playbook exists because it buys time, allows momentum to dissipate, lets people move on before any real reckoning occurs.

Mica went in a completely different direction.

He dissolved his father's organization and attached his own name to the new one. This wasn't a rebrand executed with clever messaging. It wasn't a distancing statement composed on the same letterhead. He closed BJJ College—the team his father built, the team Mica had grown up competing on, the team he'd trained alongside teammates with for years—and launched Mika Jiu-Jitsu in its place.

He didn't have access to a clean option. Every path available involved real loss: association with the team's history, continuity with the roster, connection to people who had been part of his competitive development. He could have tried to rehabilitate BJJ College's reputation. He could have stayed and fought to rebuild trust. Instead, he went straight through the problem rather than around it.

The name change from BJJ College to Mika Jiu-Jitsu accomplished something important: it made the separation functionally impossible to misinterpret. There is no ambiguity about ownership now. There is no claim that "it's still the same organization, just under new management." The letterhead changed. The signage changed. The responsibility changed. Whatever Mika Jiu-Jitsu becomes—success, failure, or something in between—it becomes on Mica's record, not his father's legacy.

That's not nothing.

Immediate complications

Even as the organization was imploding, Mica moved forward competitively. He was announced as a wildcard entry at Craig Jones Invitational 2 in the -77kg division, competing under the New Wave Jiu-Jitsu banner. It was a guest arrangement, not a team signing. The roof was still collapsing and he was already in the bracket, preparing to compete at a high-level invitational while his organization dissolved around him.

Whether Mika Jiu-Jitsu develops into anything meaningful depends almost entirely on who commits to the organization next. A team is not one person, even if that person is among the best young grapplers in the world right now. One champion cannot rebuild a roster from nothing. Diogo Reis was out. Andrey was uncommitted and physically elsewhere. The prominent athletes had departed.

What Mica possessed: his own name, his competitive record, a clean organizational break from his father, and a completely blank roster.

The final tally

The timeline, looking back from late May, reads like this: On April 28, Melqui was arrested and the team announced it would rebuild under Mica and Diogo. Diogo Reis left within 72 hours. Mica closed BJJ College entirely and relaunched under Mika Jiu-Jitsu. Fabricio Andrey, it emerged, had already exited months prior for completely separate reasons related to how he was being treated within the organization. Current status as of early June: Mika Jiu-Jitsu exists as a legal entity. Diogo Reis is evaluating his next move. Andrey is at Alliance. The roster is essentially a blank page.

The most honestly named team in BJJ right now consists of one person and an empty training facility waiting to be filled. At the very least, there's no confusion about the branding anymore.

This post was generated by AI. Sources are linked below. Follow @bjj-problems on YouTube for the weekly video digest.

Sources

• Mica Galvao Ends BJJ College, Launches New Team Under His Leadership
• ADCC Champion Diogo Reis Leaves BJJ College Amid Ongoing Investigation Into Melqui Galvão
• Fabricio Andrey Talks Why He Left Melqui Galvao Team: 'It's About Respect'
• Mica Galvao, Amit Elor and Diogo Reis Issue Statements Distancing Themselves From Melqui Galvao