2021 On 9 July 2021 a few months after being promoted to black belt in Luta Livre by his mentor Totonho Aleixo, and only nine months after receiving his BJJ brown belt, 17-year-old Galvão was promoted to BJJ black belt by his father Melqui Galvão at their academy. In October Micael Galvão won the
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2021–2022 Rio De Janeiro, winning all his fights by submission. In November 2021, he became the youngest athlete to compete in the
AJP World Pro championship at the male black belt level, then became the youngest competitor to win the event after submitting all his opponents in the division. In September 2021 Galvão lost a no-Gi match to
Tye Ruotolo by Split Decision at the WNO Championship.
2022 In February 2022 Galvão won the Brazilian ADCC Trials submitting all of his opponents, scoring 6 wins, 5 submissions and 1 disqualification, and securing a spot at the upcoming
2022 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, the world's biggest grappling tournament, in the 77 kg weight class. In April 2022, Galvão took part in
BJJ Stars 8 Middleweight GP, one of the biggest and most prestigious professional jiu-jitsu shows in
São Paulo; he won the first match against multiple-time black belt World champion
Leandro Lo via decision, the semi-final against Mauricio Oliveira via submission (Injury Forfeit), and won in the final against
Lucas "Hulk" Barbosa, a-two time World champion (Gi and No-Gi) whom Galvão defeated with a Bow and Arrow Choke. In June 2022 competing at the World Championship as a black belt for the first time, Galvão became, at 18 years old, the youngest ever jiu-jitsu world champion after defeating 19-year-old Tye Ruotolo in the lightweight final. Galvão was later stripped of the title after testing positive for
clomifene, a banned substance, and suspended for a year. He won silver at the
2022 ADCC World Championship after defeating
Dante Leon, in a match where 2 points were deducted from Leon in the final 10 seconds; winning against Renato Canuto and Oliver Taza by points, but losing to
Kade Ruotolo in the final.
2023 In January 2023, Galvão's father Melqui announced that they would be separating from Fight Sports and branching out as their own BJJ affiliation, including a new location in São Paulo. Galvão returned to gi competition for the first time in 9 months at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour in
London on 12 March 2023, winning gold in the welterweight division. Galvão was booked to compete in a superfight against Alexandre de Jesus in the main event of Majestic BJJ 3 on 1 April 2023. Galvão won via submission against de Jesus in the main event and won the promotion's 83 kg title. Galvão was invited to compete in the BJJ Stars 10 Absolute Grand prix on 22 April 2023. He defeated Otavio Nalati on points in the opening round before winning his quarter-final match against
Kaynan Duarte by disqualification. Galvão lost to Fellipe Andrew on points in the semi-final, although he was visibly injured from the previous match. Galvão had an MRI shortly after that which confirmed that he had suffered a
medial collateral ligament injury and would be out of competition for a minimum of 8-12 weeks.
Doping ban In April, Galvão was stripped of his 2022 IBJJF world title following an
USADA announcement that he had tested positive for clomifene after a drug test conducted in connection to the
2022 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The USADA determined that Galvão's positive test was "caused by a medication prescribed in a therapeutic dose under the care of a physician" but that he failed to request a mandatory therapeutic use exemption. Galvão accepted a one year suspension starting on 22 July 2022.
Competition return Galvão made his return to competition after recovering from his injury at the CBJJE São Paulo open 2023 on 29 July, winning a gold medal in the medium-heavyweight division. On 5 August 2023, he made his return to IBJJF competition by winning gold medals in the gi lightweight division and the no gi medium-heavyweight division of the IBJJF Vitoria Open 2023. He competed again at the IBJJF Floripa Winter Open 2023 on 12 and 13 August, winning gold medals in the middleweight division in both the gi and no gi. Galvão competed in a 4-man tournament for the Who's Number One welterweight title at WNO: Night of Champions on 1 October 2023. He won both matches and was crowned the champion. He won the no gi middleweight division at the IBJJF Sao Paulo Open 2023 on 19 November 2023. Galvão was scheduled to make his first Who's Number One welterweight title defense against Kody Steele at WNO 21: Ryan vs Barbosa on 30 November 2023. He won the match by submission, with a rear-naked choke. He announced after winning the match that he was going to make his second title-defense against Nicky Ryan at WNO 22 on 9 February 2024. Galvão represented Team Modolfo in the under 83kg division at AIGA Champions League Final 2023 on 13 and 14 December. He did not compete in the semi-final but won his final match by submission, helping Team Modolfo win the tournament.
2024 Galvão announced at the beginning of 2024 that he would move up to middleweight after defending his welterweight WNO title earlier in 2024. He won the
IBJJF European Championship in
Paris at middleweight on 27 January 2024. Nicky Ryan withdrew from a welterweight title-fight with Galvão at Who's Number One 22 and was replaced with Kenta Iwamoto. Galvão won the match by submission and retained the title. Galvão won a gold medal in the middleweight division of the
IBJJF Pan Championship 2024 in
Kissimmee, Florida on March 24, 2024. He was booked to defend his Who's Number One welterweight title against
Tommy Langaker at WNO 23 on May 10, 2024. He withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Andrew Tackett. Galvão won the lightweight division of the IBJJF World Championship 2024 on June 1, 2024. The gold medal completed his IBJJF Grand Slam for the year. He competed against
Davi Ramos in the main event of BJJ Stars 13: Vikings Edition on August 3, 2024. Galvão won the match on points. Galvão was invited to compete in the 77kg division of the
2024 ADCC World Championship on August 17-18, 2024. He won by submission over Luiz Paulo in the opening round, beat Oliver Taza and PJ Barch by decision, and prevailed by submission over
Vagner Rocha to win the gold medal. That meant that Galvão in 2024, became the second person ever to achieve the sport's super grand slam. He competed in the men's absolute division, won via submission by Elder Cruz in the opening round and lost by submission to
Dante Leon in the quarter-final.
2025 Galvão competed in the middleweight no gi grand prix at BJJ Stars 15 on April 26, 2025. He won all three matches and the title. He faced Jonnatas Gracie for the middleweight title in the main event of Who’s Number One 28 on June 13, 2025. Galvão won the match by decision. == Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitive summary ==