- George Chung
- Jan 21
- 4 min read
ONE 170 on Friday, January 24, will be the triumphant return of Marcelo Garcia to active competition against Masakazu Imanari. It is a triumph no matter the result as the BJJ legend is fully healthy.
In 2023, Garcia was diagnosed with stomach cancer. It was a shocking revelation, but one he tackled head-on.
“I was like, ‘Alright, so now this is a whole new thing that I have no idea what’s gonna happen.’ I was just trying to figure it out,” Garcia told ONE.
“Thank God, things started going more in my way to help me, and we found the cancer early.”
As Garcia underwent treatment, he tried to keep a positive outlook on life. The driving force of the Brazilian’s will to conquer his cancer was knowing he had to be there for his children.
“It wasn’t a great thing fighting for my life. And when I say my life, I’m not just talking about myself. I’m talking about the life of my kids’ father. You know what I mean,” Garcia remarked.
“I have to be their father, I need to stay here longer, and I need to try to give them the best chance to grow up like good people.”
The 41-year-old underwent multiple treatments during his year-long battle. Thankfully, Garcia won his biggest fight and emerged cancer-free.
With the harrowing experience in his rearview, Garcia is amazed at how much life has changed over the past 12 months.
“It was not fun at all to go through the treatment. I ended up doing eight sessions of chemotherapy. The first four were really rough. The last four, not terrible. And in between those eight chemotherapy sessions, I ended up having a big surgery. That changed a lot of the dynamics inside my body, my stomach, my esophagus,” the Brazilian recalled.
“And the crazy thing is how it’s just a year ago that I finished my treatment, but it feels like it’s been so long. I’m not gonna lie, I almost forgot everything. It’s just crazy how our bodies adapt. It’s just crazy how our mind forgets about things, too.”
As Garcia’s health began to improve, he was finally able to return to the gym and begin training once again. It was something he never knew if he was going to have the privilege of doing again.
When all the pieces began falling into place and he could train at 100% capacity, the rush of relief flooded over the multiple-time ADCC World Champion.
“My doctor, she didn’t promise anything. She’s like, ‘I’ve never dealt with somebody that young that has your type of cancer, so I don’t know what you’re gonna be able to do.’ So I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to train,” the BJJ icon stated.
“For me, when I was able to go back to training, I started to feel like, ‘Oh, I think I can live with this. I feel like I can roll normal. I feel like I can teach. I feel like I can go upside down if I have to, and I wouldn’t feel the food going up my throat.”
“[My doctor] didn’t guarantee me anything. So when I was able to go back to training, I felt like, ‘Okay, I can work again. I can just be myself again.’ So that was the best feeling for me when I went back to training.”
Reignited with his passion for BJJ, Garcia saw an opportunity to return to competition to provide a greater life for his children.
When Garcia makes his walk down the aisle at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, he will serve as an inspiration to all about what can be achieved through the toughest of circumstances.
“I know what makes me feel the best in my life – if I can give a better childhood to my kids. That’s my biggest wish. So when I trained again, I felt like, ‘Okay, now I can give a better life for my family because now I can work every day. Now I can do that thing that’s probably the best thing that I know how to do,” Garcia said.
“When I was able to go back on the mat, I was just not thinking about myself, but I was just so happy to be able to make a living again with jiu-jitsu because it was hard to not be able to really work. That was really what beat me up every day.”
Garcia’s outlook on life carried him through his fight. On the doorstep of his return at ONE 170, he is hoping to deliver a message for all fans around the world to focus on their happiness and live their best, most healthy, lives.
“We have to know what makes us feel good. When I say make us feel good, like, not momentarily, not make us feel good now, but in the long term, too. Pleasure makes us feel good now, but also, is it gonna make us feel even better later? So once we know that, we have to just put our mind on that,” Garcia finished.
“We need to figure out what makes you happy, and just focus on that. But not what makes you happy now. I can eat a pint of ice cream. That would make me really happy now. But very soon after, I’m not gonna feel great after that. So I find what makes me feel the best, and I focus on that so much.”
ONE 170 airs live and free on ONE’s official YouTube channel at 6:30 a.m. EST/3:30 a.m. PST on Friday, January 24.
