Gabi Garcia

Gabrielle "Gabi" Lemos Garcia is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, 9x Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) World Champion, 11x Pan Jiu-Jitsu Champion and 4x ADCC Submission Fighting World champion. One of the most successful competitors of all time in the female black belt divisions, and a member of the IBJJF Hall of Fame.[2]

For the Filipino actress, see Gabbi Garcia.
Gabi Garcia
Gabi Garcia in 2016
BornGabrielle Lemos Garcia
(1985-11-17) November 17, 1985
Porto Alegre, Brazil
ResidenceEastvale, California
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight95 kg (209 lb; 14 st 13 lb)
StyleBrazilian Jiu-Jitsu
TeamAlliance Jiu Jitsu
Rank3rd deg. BJJ black belt
1st deg. Judo black belt[1]
Years active2008–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total7
Wins6
By knockout2
By submission4
Losses0
No contests1
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Medal record
Representing  Brazil
Submission Wrestling
ADCC World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Nottingham, UK +60kg
Gold medal – first place 2013 Beijing, China +60kg
Bronze medal – third place 2015 São Paulo, Brazil +60kg
Gold medal – first place 2017 Espoo, Finland +60kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 Anaheim, California +60kg
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2008 California, USA +74kg
Bronze medal – third place 2009 California, USA +74kg
Gold medal – first place 2010 California, USA +74kg
Silver medal – second place 2010 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2011 California, USA +74kg
Gold medal – first place 2011 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2012 California, USA +74kg
Gold medal – first place 2012 California, USA Absolute
Pan Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2008 California, USA +74kg
Bronze medal – third place 2008 California, USA Absolute
Bronze medal – third place 2009 California, USA +74kg
Bronze medal – third place 2009 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2010 California, USA +74kg
Gold medal – first place 2010 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2011 California, USA +74kg
Silver medal – second place 2011 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2012 California, USA +74kg
Gold medal – first place 2012 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2013 California, USA +74kg
Gold medal – first place 2013 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2015 California, USA +80kg
Gold medal – first place 2015 California, USA Absolute
Gold medal – first place 2019 California, USA +80kg
Gold medal – first place 2019 California, USA Absolute

In December 2021, Garcia announced that she was officially retiring from IBJJF competition.[3]

Early life

Gabi Garcia was born on November 17, 1985 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Garcia's early and mid-teens were spent playing sports including volleyball, team handball, and field hockey. At age 13, Garcia and her family moved to São Paulo. Around this age, Garcia's uncle helped begin her training in Jiu-Jitsu. Before eventually committing herself full-time to a Jiu-Jitsu career, Garcia was in her final year of a university course study in advertising.[4]

Jiu Jitsu and grappling

Garcia trains in São Paulo with Fabio Gurgel, at the Alliance team, where she has achieved four Abu Dhabi Combat Club championships and nine World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.[5]

Garcia's results from the 2013 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships were automatically disqualified when she tested positive for the fertility drug Clomiphene, which is on the USADA banned list. After a case review, Garcia was found not at fault, no suspension was given and she remained eligible to compete.[6][7]

In 2019, Garcia became the first woman to win four ADCC gold medals with a submission in the finals against Carina Santi.[8]

In 2021, following a WNO (Who's Number One ) fight against Nathiely De Jesus,[9] Garcia called for a match between her and Gordon Ryan.[10] ADCC medalist Craig Jones verbally agreed to compete against her in an intergender match, the match has not been officially booked for any promotion as yet.[11]

At the 2021 IBJJF World Championships, Garcia was submitted for the first time in the history of her competitive career at black belt by Yara Soares and she retired from IBJJF competition at the conclusion of the competition.[12]

Garcia was then invited to compete at the 2022 ADCC World Championship in the over 60 kg division once again.[13] She submitted Nikki Lloyd-Griffiths in the opening round with an armbar, but then lost to Amy Campo on points in the semi-final. She won the bronze medal by default after Kendall Reusing was injured in her match and unable to compete.[14]

On March 30, 2023, Garcia was promoted to black belt in Judo.[1]

Instructor lineage

Jigoro Kano → Tomita Tsunejirō → Mitsuyo Maeda → Carlos Gracie Sr. → Hélio Gracie → Rolls Gracie → Romero Cavalcanti → Fábio Gurgel → Gabi Garcia[4]

Mixed martial arts

Garcia appeared as a guest coach for Wanderlei Silva on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.

Garcia was at one point scheduled to face Megumi Yabushita for the Japanese promotion Real Fight Championship. This bout, however, fell through.[15]

Garcia was then scheduled to make her MMA debut with Jungle Fight in March 2015.[16] However, this bout also didn't happen.

On November 6, 2015, it was announced during Bellator 145 that Garcia would face Lei'D Tapa for Rizin Fighting Federation on December 31, 2015.[17] She won the fight via TKO in the first round.

In her second fight for the promotion, Garcia faced Anna Malyukova at Rizin Fighting Federation 1 on April 17, 2016. She won the fight via armbar submission in the second round.

For her third fight with Rizin, Garcia faced Destanie Yarbrough at Rizin World Grand-Prix 2016: 1st Round on September 25, 2016. She won the fight via americana submission in the first round.

Garcia was scheduled to face Shinobu Kandori at Rizin 4: Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2016: Final Round on December 31, 2016. However, Kandori pulled out of the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Yumiko Hotta. Garcia won the bout via TKO in the first round.

Garcia next faced Russian boxer Oksana Gagloeva on July 30, 2017, at Rizin 6. The bout ended in a No Contest due to an eye poke that occurred just fourteen seconds into the first round.

Garcia was scheduled to face Shinobu Kandori on December 29 at Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: 2nd Round,[18] but the fight was canceled when Garcia missed weight by 28 pounds.[19]

Garcia faced Barbara Nepomuceno at Rizin 14 on December 31, 2018, in a 226 lb catchweight bout.[20] She won the fight via submission in the first round.

In 2023, Garcia announced that she would be returning to professional MMA competition and that she would be competing at 195 lbs.[21]

Shoot boxing

Garcia made her shoot boxing debut on July 7, 2017 when she faced Megumi Yabushita at Shoot Boxing Girl's S-Cup 2017. The bout was declared a No Contest after twice hitting Yabushita with illegal soccer kicks when her opponent fell to the ground.[22]

Personal life

Gabi Garcia is married to Bruno Almeida, but on May 30, 2023 she publicly accused him of committing fraud, financial abuse, and physical abuse.[23]

Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
7 matches 6 wins 0 losses
By knockout 2 0
By submission 4 0
No contests 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 6–0 (1) Barbara Nepomuceno Submission (keylock) Rizin 14 December 31, 2018 1 2:35 Saitama, Japan
Win 5–0 (1) Veronika Futina Submission (rear-naked choke) Road FC 047 May 12, 2018 1 3:49 Beijing, China
NC 4–0 (1) Oksana Gagloeva No Contest (eye poke) Rizin World Grand Prix 2017 Opening Round – Part 1 July 30, 2017 1 0:14 Saitama, Japan Eyepoke rendered Gagloeva unable to continue.
Win 4–0 Yumiko Hotta TKO (punches) Rizin 4: Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2016: Final Round December 31, 2016 1 0:41 Saitama, Japan
Win 3–0 Destanie Yarbrough Submission (keylock) Rizin World Grand-Prix 2016: 1st Round September 25, 2016 1 2:42 Saitama, Japan
Win 2–0 Anna Malyukova Submission (armbar) Rizin Fighting Federation 1 April 17, 2016 2 2:04 Nagoya, Japan
Win 1-0 Lei'D Tapa TKO (punches) Rizin Fighting World GP 2015: Iza no Mai December 31, 2015 1 2:36 Saitama, Japan

Shoot boxing record
Shoot boxing record
0 Wins, 0 Losses, 1 No Contest
Date Result OpponentEventLocation MethodRoundTime
2017-07-07NCJapan Megumi YabushitaShoot Boxing Girl's S-Cup 2017Tokyo, JapanNo Contest (illegal soccer kicks)1N/A
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

References
  1. de Souza, Diogo. "Gabi Garcia Promoted To Black Belt In Judo". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  2. "Hall of fame". Hall of fame. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  3. Wynne, Lucy (12 December 2021). "Gabi Garcia Retires from IBJJF". Grappling Insider. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  4. "Gabrielle "Gabi" Garcia". BJJ Heroes - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Team History, Fighter Stats, Biographies and News. 2010-08-10.
  5. "Gabi Garcia on MMA debut: 'People thought I'd box like Manny Pacquiao and kick like Anderson Silva'". MMA Fighting. 2016-04-16. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  6. "Gabi Garcia Tests Positive for Fertility Drug, Stripped of 2013 Worlds Title". Bloody Elbow. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  7. "Gabi Garcia Tests Positive For The Prohibited Substance Clomiphene After 2013 Worlds". Bjj Eastern Europe. 2014-03-27.
  8. "Gabi Garcia Powers Through To Historic Fourth ADCC Gold Medal". 29 September 2019.
  9. "Who's Number One: Craig Jones v Ronaldo Jr Full Results and Review". 27 February 2021.
  10. "Gabi Garcia Challenges Gordon Ryan in Post-Fight Interview". 28 February 2021.
  11. "Craig Jones and Gabi Garcia Verbally Agree to Grappling Match at WNO". 2 March 2021.
  12. "Gabi Garcia Submitted for the First Time at Black Belt and Retires from IBJJF Competition". 13 December 2021.
  13. Lindsey, Alex. "Kaynan Duarte And Two Others Invited To ADCC 2022". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  14. "ADCC 2022 Live Results, Play-by-play, Analysis, Highlights, More". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  15. "Gabi Garcia set for MMA debut against Japanese giant killer Megumi Yabushita". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  16. "Gabi Garcia gets new date for MMA debut, this time in Brazil". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  17. "During Bellator 145, King Mo's entry to the RIZIN FIGHTING WORLD GRAND-PRIX 2015 and Gabi Garcia vs Lei'D Tapa's matchup was announced". Rizin FF. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  18. "Gabi Garcia vs Shinobu Kandori Set ⋆ MMA TakeOver". MMA TakeOver. 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  19. "Gabi Garcia vs. Shinobu Kandori scratched from Rizin FF 8 after massive weigh-in miss". MMA Junkie. 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  20. Marc Raimondi (December 12, 2018). "Gabi Garcia returns to Rizin to fight Brazilian kickboxer Barbara Nepomuceno on New Year's Eve". mmafighting.com.
  21. Rollo, Ian. "Gabi Garcia Announces Intention To Return To MMA". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  22. "Gabi Garcia's stand-up debut ends in no-contest after illegal soccer kick". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  23. Burne, Kathrine. "Gabi Garcia Accuses Husband Of Abuse And Fraud". JitsMagazine. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
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