“Unbreakable spirit” - BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia’s inspiring journey from beating cancer to returning to active competition

BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia continues his comeback from beating stomach cancer as he returns to active competition by way of ONE Championship this week in Thailand.

The five-time IBJJF world champion and four-time ADCC gold medal winner is set to make his ONE debut on Jan. 24 at ONE 170 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok. He will take on veteran Japanese fighter Masakazu Imanari in an openweight submission grappling showdown.

The match comes over 13 years since he was last saw action and a little over a year since he beat stomach cancer.

ONE Championship highlighted the incredible and inspiring journey back of Marcelo Garcia in a carousel of photos on Instagram, encapsulating it with a two-word description which read:

"Unbreakable spirit 🙌"

Before calling it a career in jiu-jitsu in 2011, Marcelo Garcia went out with a bang, winning his fourth ADCC gold medal. He spent the succeeding years still involved in BJJ but as mentor to new-generation athletes in his academy while spending a lot of quality time with his family.

In 2023, he was diagnosed with cancer. But even in the face of a tough battle his faith in a higher power and himself allowed him to overcome the challenge and force the disease into remission.

Garcia, 42, now looks to celebrate the journey by coming up with a win over Imanari at ONE 170.

ONE 170 is the first numbered event of ONE Championship for this year and 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 knows the burden of proof is on him in his return

Away from competition for quite a long time, Marcelo Garcia knows he has to go out and prove he still has it to compete at a high level when he plunges into action at ONE 170 on Jan. 24 against Masakazu Imanari.

He shared this in an interview with Jits Magazine back in December, highlighting that while the process was not going to be a walk in the park, he was up for the challenge since all his career he was out proving himself.

Garcia said:

"But, at the same time, I feel like I have to prove that I have a 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 a good jiu-jitsu."

Garcia allayed fears of his conditioning following a long layoff from competition by saying that teaching his students in his academy all these years has kept him sharp and in shape.