Sarah Galvão

Sarah Galvão is a professional grappler and a Jiu-Jitsu black belt under André Galvão and Angelica Galvão, her parents, founders of the Atos Jiu-Jitsu Team, a workgroup she represented competitively from an early age. Sarah first gained recognition in the sport as a juvenile blue belt by winning the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Grand Slam (gold in the European, Pan, and World Championship, as well as the Brazilian Nationals) in her weight class and the open weight (2022). She continued to build upon this impressive competitive resume throughout her juvenile and adult career.

Sarah Galvão Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Sarah Cabral Firme Galvão

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Reyson Gracie > Osvaldo Alves > Luis Dagmar >André Galvão (> Angelica Galvão) > Sarah Galvão

Main Achievements:

• 1st Place IBJJF American Nationals (2025**)
• 1st Place IBJJF Asian Championship (2025**)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

• #1 Ranked IBJJF Colored Belt In Every Belt (2022 / 2023 / 2024 / 2025)
• IBJJF Grand Slam Winner (2024 / 2025)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2024** purple / 2025 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2024 brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2024 purple / 2025** brown)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2024** purple / 2025 brown)
• 1st Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2024 brown & black)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, RJN (2023 brown & black)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, LDN (2023*** purple)
• 1st Place AJP Grand Slam, MIA (2023*** purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2025* brown)

Main Achievements (Juvenile):

• IBJJF Grand Slam Winner (2022** / 2023)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2022** / 2023**)
• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship NOGI (2022)
• 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2022** / 2023**)
• 1st Place IBJJF European Championship (2022** / 2023**)
• 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Nationals (2022** / 2023)
• 1st Place AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro (2022 / 2023)

* Absolute
** Weight and Absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Closed GD & Pressure Passing

Weight Division: Peso Leve (64 kg / 141.5 lbs)

Team/Association: Atos

Sarah Galvão Biography

Sarah Galvão was born in July 2006, in Ubatuba, a coastal city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. At the age of three, her parents moved to the U.S. and, as a consequence, Sarah was raised in San Diego, California.

Although she grew up in the jiu-jitsu community alongside her parents, André and Angelica Galvão, Sarah didn’t fall in love with jiu-jitsu at first sight. She tried it for the first time when she was four and was the first student at Atos Jiu-Jitsu HQ Kids Program, but jiu-jitsu wasn’t something that captured her heart at the time.

Her parents enrolled her in various sports, such as gymnastics, dance, and tennis, not to compete, but to keep her healthy and in shape. She enjoyed them at the time, but she was always surrounded by jiu-jitsu at her parents’ academy, and eventually, she had no other option.

In 2019, Sarah decided to compete at the IBJJF Kids Pans as a grey belt and ultimately lost in the finals. After that, she kept going because, as she explained in an interview with Mayara Munos in June 2025, “I’m very competitive and hate losing. So I’ve worked hard ever since that moment happened.”

She continued training just for fun, but as the years passed and she earned her blue belt, her mindset shifted, and she decided to take it seriously, pursuing a career as a professional athlete.

In 2022, as a Juvenile 1 Blue Belt, Sarah made history by winning the IBJJF Double Grand Slam, becoming the first girl ever to achieve this feat. Since then, she has completed the IBJJF Grand Slam at every colored belt, finishing each season ranked number one.

In 2023, Sarah achieved another incredible feat by winning the Abu Dhabi World Pro Youth Championship and, just five days later, the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship, both as a purple belt.

Still regarding the AJP league, Sarah made her debut in the Professional Brown/Black Belt division as an 18-year-old brown belt, winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam World Tour in Rio de Janeiro by defeating the top-ranked black belt in the final. Later that same year, she went on to win the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship, still as a brown belt, overcoming professional black belt opponents along the way.

Sarah was promoted to Black Belt after winning her division at the 2025 IBJJF Worlds by her parents at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach on June 30, 2025.

NOTE REGARDING SARAH GALVAO’S RECORD

Traditionally, BJJ Heroes only accounted for black belt records as they signify an athlete’s entry into our sport’s elite ranks. Sarah Galvão, however, competed extensively in the AJP circuit as a brown belt, a league that combines the female brown and black belt divisions. This has left BJJ Heroes with a delicate predicament of defining when to start accounting for the young prodigy’s match records.

Considering how well Sarah did in this AJP category as a brown belt, winning several important medals while competing against some of the top-ranked athletes at the time, we have decided to add these matches. Our readers should keep in mind, when addressing Galvão’s career, that her true black belt professional record starts in 2025.

This profile was written by Mayara Munhos. Follow Mayara on Instagram at @maymunhos & @jiujitsuinframes