Sarah Galvao has been on an emotional rollercoaster at the IBJJF World Championship 2025, finishing on a huge high note with her being promoted to black belt in BJJ. The tournament always produces memorable moments both for the fans watching and the athletes competing themselves, and this year is no exception. The belt was tied around Galvao’s waist by her parents Angelica and Andre Galvao, both of whom have walked this path before her as elite competitors. It was an emotional moment for all three of them, as this represents years of hard work on the mats all throughout her childhood and teenage years.
Every Jiu-Jitsu competitor remembers the moment that they received their black belt of course, but this will be extra important for Galvao for several reasons. Obviously receiving the belt from her parents is going to feel incredible, but she also stood alongside several members of the ATOS competition team at the same time. She was one of five new black belts that the Galvaos promoted on the day, so she also gets to share the moment with several of her training partners. Lillian Marchand, Maria Alencar, and Leticia Teixeira were the other new female black belts on the podium; while Vinicius Inacio was the only man.
Sarah Galvao is one of the top prospects in the sport right now and she proved that at the IBJJF World Championship 2025 by winning gold in the brown belt lightweight division. That was an excellent performance and she went on to the absolute as the top seed, on track to become the brown belt double champion. She came up against Aghata Fernandes in her first match and got caught with a kneebar in the biggest upset of her belt rank this year. Galvao wasn’t able to dwell on it for long though, as she was given her black belt after that and will now have to face a whole new level of competition from now on.
The full IBJJF World Championship 2025 event replay, including Sarah Galvao winning gold and being promoted to black belt, is available to watch on FloGrappling, click here to subscribe and watch.
