Mica Galvao will now be moving up to middleweight in order to challenge Jonnatas Gracie for the title in the main event of Who’s Number One (WNO) 28 on June 13th, 2025. It’s excellent matchmaking by the promotion and it’s an opportunity for both men to claim a piece of history for themselves. For Galvao, he has the chance to add a second WNO title to his trophy cabinet and become just the second person to hold two belts at once after Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira achieved the feat at featherweight and lightweight. It would be a rare moment and the latest in a long line of accomplishments for the young competitor, including his incredibly rare super grand slam run last year.
Even though he’s moving up from the welterweight division for this match, Galvao will still be coming into this match as the favorite. He actually moved up to middleweight quite recently to win the BJJ Stars 15 grand prix and Gracie was actually one of the other entrants, although the two didn’t cross paths as he went out in the opening round. They also competed alongside each other in the under 77kg division at ADCC 2024, where Galvao won gold and Gracie went out in the quarter-finals. They’ve also faced each other once before and Galvao won by submission, but that was in the gi at the IBJJF World Championship in 2022.
Galvao won his welterweight title almost two years ago at WNO 20: Night of Champions, beating two top contenders on the same night to claim it. He’s since defended the title twice, giving him one of the most impressive title-reigns in the promotion’s history. Gracie on the other hand won his title at WNO 24 almost a year ago, and this will be his first title-defense. Gracie is also one if the best BJJ competitors in the world at shutting down an opponent’s game from the top, so he does have a path to victory if he’s able to put Galvao on his back early on.
The full Who’s Number One 28 live event, including the title-fight between Mica Galvao and Jonnatas Gracie, is available to watch on June 13th, 2025 on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
