The Ups And Down Of The Manaus Boys

FloSports is proud to announce its second feature documentary of 2023, "The Ups And Downs Of The Manaus Boys." The film will be released on Wednesday, March 8th and documents the experience of three athletes from Melqui Galvao Jiu-Jitsu through the 2022 ADCC South American Trials and then Worlds.

Following up on "Becoming Dangerous: The Rise of Giancarlo Bodoni," this film also gives a behind the scenes look at the biggest grappling event of all time. The highs lows of competition, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Watch it all exclusively on FloGrappling on March 8th.

Manaus, Amazonas

Located in the the northwest of Brazil, Manaus is the 7th largest city in the country with a population of just over 2.2 million people. Manaus is located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, situated just west of where the Solimoes and Negro rivers meet to form the Amazon river.

Legends of the sport such as Saulo and Xande Riberio, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza" and Wallid Ismail were born and raised in Manaus. In recent years, Manaus has developed a reputation for producing more elite jiu-jitsu athletes than any other city in the world. Diego Pato, Matheus Gabriel and Thalison Soares are three of the black belt world champions to come from the city over the last few years.

Melqui Galvao Jiu-Jitsu

Originally started as a social project for youth in 2011 while Melqui worked for the Manaus Police Department, the team went through several affiliations before going their own way as Melqui Galvao Jiu-Jitsu in 2023. The team developed a close knit, family style bond over the years with all of the top competitors being homegrown under the tutelage of Melqui.

2021 saw the team produce its first black belt world champion in Fabricio Andrey. For the 2022 ADCC Worlds three athletes from the team qualified from the South American Trials. Fabricio Andrey, Diogo "Baby Shark" Reis and Melqui's son, Mica Galvao. The Ups and Downs of Manaus is the story of what went went down at ADCC with these athletes.

Watch The Ups And Downs Of The Manaus Boys On March 8th

The Ups And Downs Of The Manaus Boys debuts on Wednesday, March 8th, with the trailer coming before that on FloGrappling social media channels.