Marcelo Garcia says his kids will relish the chance to watch him debut in ONE Championship: "They're going to be happy"

At 41 years old, Marcelo Garcia knew that if he was going to pull the trigger on a return to competition, it would need to be now.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu icon isn't getting any younger, but his active career did take a backseat for a good reason.

Alongside wanting to dedicate more time to growing and building his gym, which has proven to be incredibly successful, Garcia didn't want to take too much time away from his family and children.

Having won his final ADCC World Title in 2011, he walked away on top of the sport and though he has gone on to achieve great things as a coach, that does leave one itch unscratched.

Marcelo Garcia is now scheduled to make his return and ONE Championship debut at ONE 170 on Jan. 24 when he will face fellow grappling icon Masakazu Imanari.

In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, he spoke about his motivation for coming back.

Garcia revealed that getting to compete in front of his children after stepping away from competition to be with them is something that motivates him:

"Once my kids were born and I took so much time to be around them and now they're getting old. I feel like they're going to be happy to see their dad go compete and I don't want to miss the opportunity."

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Marcelo Garcia will look to relive his glory years

It isn't just his own children that may not have had the opportunity to watch Marcelo Garcia compete live if he hadn't announced a return.

The Brazilian might be the best jiu-jitsu competitor of all time but with submission grappling being bigger and more popular than ever, there's a lot of fans that haven't watched the GOAT before.

While the extended time off might give Garcia some form of challenges, expect him to be back at his best when he makes the walk once again and experience the rush of competition.