JT Torres and Andre Galvao are both among the best competitors in the sport, with both of them reaching the very highest level of success under ADCC rules. They have both delivered excellent results in other rulesets as well, with Galvao in particular standing out for having won an incredible 5 IBJJF World Championship gold medals over the course of his career. Although a gi world title has eluded him so far, Torres has managed to win an IBJJF No Gi World Championship. They have also won over a dozen major IBJJF events between the two of them, across both gi and no gi competition.
The two men didn’t always train together though, and it wasn’t until long after Galvao first created ATOS that Torres came to work with him. Galvao founded his team in 2008 and Torres was just a brown belt at the time, training at Team Lloyd Irvin. Torres received his black belt from Irvin the following year and continued training under him until 2013 when the team was rocked by scandal. Torres left the team like so many other top competitors and alongside Keenan Cornelius, he made the decision to move to ATOS. It was there that JT Torres began training under Andre Galvao, and reached the peak of his career.
Galvao had already become the double champion at ADCC 2011 and had managed to dethrone the superfight champion Braulio Estima later in 2013. His guidance proved to be invaluable for Torres, as he also went on to become an ADCC world champion in 2017 when he won the under 77kg division for the first time. Torres went on to win his second title in 2019, while Galvao continued defending his superfight title all throughout that time and set the record for most successful defenses. He actually remained the champion until he eventually lost to Gordon Ryan in 2022, and has since chosen not to return to competition.
This particular footage of Torres and Galvao rolling actually comes from 2014, just around a year after the pair started working together. It’s always useful to see elite competitors training with one another and not only because it’s a good learning opportunity, but also because it gives a behind-the-scenes look at how two teammates might fare against one another. Torres and Galvao are both known for their fantastic passing and top-pressure too, so it’s interesting to see what happens when either one or both of them get put on their back in a training session with an equally great top-player.
The full footage of BJJ legends JT Torres and Andre Galvao rolling together was uploaded to our official YouTube channel, click here to subscribe for more.
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