Worlds: remember how Marcelinho became king of middleweight and register for 2014

The last time we talked to Marcelo Garcia, in October 2013, he got emotional when he was asked about retirement.

It’s easy to understand why Marcelinho was so touched to talk about his years as a competitor.

It should be hard to let go of something you were so good at.

In the World Championship, Marcelo Garcia is the king of middleweight.

In a spam of 8 years, from 2004 to 2011, he won five world titles while traveling through two generations of black belts without giving up the top of the podium.

Now a proud father of beautiful baby girl Olivia and owner of a more than successful academy in the heart of Manhattan, Garcia started his journey in 2004, when he defeated Cassio Werneck by points, with an early on blitzkrieg.

Marcelinho attacks Werneck’s back in 2004. Photo by Gustavo Aragão

Two years later, in 2006, he was back in the game and the middleweight final was against a guy that would soon become one of his greatest rivals.

In the last edition of the Worlds held in the legendary Tijuca Tenis Club, in Rio, Andre Galvão was the opponent and the result of their fight you can watch below.

We fast forward another three years.

That’s the first year of Marcelo Garcia’s final hat-trick at the Worlds.

After a unsuccessful venture as an MMA fighter that ended with a TKO defeat against Dae Won Kim, in 2007, and more than a year of waiting for a second fight that never came, Marcelo decided to go back to Jiu-Jitsu in 2009.

In a star-studded division that gathered names like Kron Gracie, Lucas Leite, Alan Nascimento and Sergio Moraes, it was up to a odds and evens game to decide the champion.

That was the way friends Garcia and Moraes decided who would win the title and luck was on Marcelo’s side (watch it at 2:51 on the video below).

One year later, no close outs and a hard trail to the forth gold medal that included Kayron Gracie in the semifinal and Claudio Calasans Jr in the final. One sweep in the beginning was enough for the title.

The final chapter (so far) came about three years ago. In 2011, Marcelo Garcia made his last appearance on Jiu-Jitsu’s most prestigious stage.

The last three matches were against Victor Estima, Guto Campos and Lucas Leite.

He beat Estima 3-0, choked Campos and swept Leite, as you can see in the video below.

His last words to GRACIEMAG in the Long Beach Pyramid were kind of an omen to what was to come: “Every year I feel a lot like competing, but every year it gets harder, with more injuries, more commitments,” he said.

Since them, he’s been absent and most probably we already seen all of Marcelinho’s at the Worlds.

Don’t forget to register today for the 2014 Worlds.

The final deadline is May 19.

Click here for more info and to register.