Gabrielle "Gabi" Lemos Garcia is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, 9x Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) World Champion, 11x Pan Jiu-Jitsu Champion and 4 X 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 List of competitors inducted into the Brazilian jiu-jitsu Hall of Fame by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), the sport's governing body. The list consists of athletes who have either achieved incredible results throughout th ...

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

Early life and education

Gabi Garcia was born on November 17, 1985 in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

, Rio Grande do Sul,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Garcia's early and mid-teens were spent playing sports including

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, team handball, and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

. At age 13, Garcia and her family moved to

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. 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 Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

Jiu Jitsu and grappling

Garcia trains in

with

Fabio Gurgel Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

, at the

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

team, where she has achieved four

Abu Dhabi Combat Club The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, is an international submission wrestling, submission grappling competition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC). The inaugural tournament was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 1998. It has been ...

championships and nine

World Jiu-Jitsu Championship The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...

s. Garcia's results from the 2013

IBJJF The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship, Pan Ji ...

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. In 2019, Garcia became the first woman to win four ADCC gold medals with a submission in the finals against Carina Santi. In 2021, following a WNO (Who's Number One ) fight against Nathiely De Jesus, Garcia called for a match between her and

Gordon Ryan Gordon Ryan (born July 8, 1995) is an American submission grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1st degree black belt, considered to be the greatest no–gi grappler of all time due to his accomplishments and dominance. Ryan is a Five–time ADCC ...

. 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. 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.

Mixed martial arts

Garcia appeared as a guest coach for

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3''. Garcia was at one point scheduled to face

Megumi Yabushita is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and judoka. She has participated in several Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotions. She is a Japanese national judo champion and a for ...

for the Japanese promotion Real Fight Championship. This bout, however, fell through. Garcia was then scheduled to make her MMA debut with

Jungle Fight Jungle Fight is a Brazilian mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion. It was created in 2003. The name is derived from its origin, the Amazonas state in Brazil. History Jungle Fight was founded by pioneering MMA fighter and long-time Brazi ...

in March 2015. However, this bout also didn't happen. On November 6, 2015, it was announced during Bellator 145 that Garcia would face

Lei'D Tapa Seini Draughn (née Tonga, born 27 November 1982) is a German-born Tongan American professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet, model, mixed martial artist and former women's American football player. Having been previously working for ...

for Rizin Fighting Federation on December 31, 2015. 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 is a retired Japanese wrestler and politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Yokohama, Kanagawa, she ran unsuccessfully for House of Councillors in 20 ...

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 is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Hotta was trained by and started her career in the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion in June 1985. She worked for the promotion until 2003, becoming a three-time WWWA ...

. 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

on December 29 at Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: 2nd Round, but the fight was canceled when Garcia missed weight by 28 pounds. Garcia faced Barbara Nepomuceno at Rizin 14 on December 31, 2018 in a 226 lb catchweight bout. She won the fight via submission in the first round.

Shoot boxing

Garcia made her shoot boxing debut on July 7, 2017 when she faced

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.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 6–0 (1) , Barbara Nepomuceno , Submission (keylock) , Rizin 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:35 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 (1) , Veronika Futina , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Road FC 047 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:49 , Beijing, China , , - , NC , align=center, 4–0 (1) , Oksana Gagloeva , No Contest (eye poke) , Rizin World Grand Prix 2017 Opening Round – Part 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:14 ,

Saitama, Japan is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying ...

, Eyepoke rendered Gagloeva unable to continue. , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , Rizin 4: Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2016: Final Round , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:41 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Destanie Yarbrough , Submission (keylock) , Rizin World Grand-Prix 2016: 1st Round , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:42 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Anna Malyukova , Submission (armbar) , Rizin Fighting Federation 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:04 ,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 ,

, TKO (punches) , Rizin Fighting World GP 2015: Iza no Mai , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:36 ,

Shoot boxing record

, - style="background:#c5d2ea;" , 2017-07-07 , , NC , , align=left,

, , Shoot Boxing Girl's S-Cup 2017 , , Tokyo, Japan , , No Contest (illegal soccer kicks) , , 1 , , N/A , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

Ibjjf.comBjjheroes.comMARanking (GI) profileFloGrappling.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Gabi 1985 births Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Brazilian Muay Thai practitioners Female Muay Thai practitioners Brazilian sportspeople in doping cases Living people Sportspeople from Porto Alegre Brazilian female mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing shootboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian female kickboxers World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists World No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions (women) IBJJF Hall of Fame inductees Doping cases in Brazilian jiu-jitsu