“I have to prove that” - BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia says he always competed with a chip on his shoulder

BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia is no longer a stranger to proving himself as he has found himself in many such situations throughout his illustrious career. It is something he once again has to deal with in his return to competition later this month.

The now-42-year-old Minas Gerais, Brazil native unretires to make his ONE Championship debut on Jan. 24 at ONE 170 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. He will be going up against veteran Japanese fighter Masakazu Imanari in an openweight submission grappling clash, which will mark his first competitive match since he called it a jiu-jitsu career in 2011.

Garcia is aware that he will have his share of doubters in his return, but he said he is ready to answer them the way he did a lot of times in the past.

He shared this in an interview with JitsMagazine back in December, saying:

"But, at the same time, I feel like I have to prove that I have good jiu-jitsu. I always feel like I have to prove that. For example, back in the day, people from my state in Brazil, it was known to have not good jiu-jitsu."

Check out Marcelo Garcia's comments below:

While it has been a long while since he last competed, Garcia said he has kept himself sharp and in shape by teaching jiu-jitsu in his academy. He is also mentally and emotionally inspired after beating stomach cancer in 2023.

ONE 170 is available on the ONE YouTube channel and Facebook (geo-restrictions may apply) as well as on watch.ONEFC.com.

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Marcelo Garcia happy to see jiu-jitsu grow with organizations like ONE Championship

Marcelo Garcia is happy to see jiu-jitsu continue to flourish with organizations like ONE Championship picking it up and bringing it to the fore. He also believes that bigger things are in store for the martial art with continued support.

Garcia made this known in an interview with sports journalist Ariel Helwani on his podcast, highlighting that he could not wait for jiu-jitsu to be mentioned in the same breath as the Olympics as far as recognition and popularity are concerned.

Garcia said:

"I believe it could happen. But I don't know. I don't know if maybe it's going to be even bigger than the Olympics, maybe jiu-jitsu doesn't need to go to the Olympics. It's going to be a professional sport like MMA. You don't have MMA today in the Olympics. You know what I mean?"

Check out the full interview below:

Marcelo Garcia seeks to continue championing jiu-jitsu when he returns to competition after more than a decade at ONE 170 on Jan. 24 in Thailand in an openweight submission grappling match against Masakazu Imanari of Japan.