A Tale of Two Middleweights: Tainan Dalpra & Micael Galvao

In two distant locations a very similar scene played out. In Los Angeles, 2021 black belt world champion Tainan Dalpra of Art Of Jiu-Jitsu, cleanly submitted three opponents in a row to take gold at a local IBJJF tournament. In Curitiba, Brazil, the 18-year-old phenomenon Micael Galvao demolished the opposition with four submissions in four matches, also taking gold. While one is the current world champion and the other was making his IBJJF black belt debut, it is no exaggeration to say they are two of the very best middleweights in the world.

Galvao and Dalpra share many things in common. They are both the products of elite champion factories, they both excelled in the lower ranks before making a splash in the black belt divisions, and they are both representatives of the new generation of superstar grapplers who coulddominate the comp scene for years to come.

Registrations are still open for the upcoming IBJJF Pans (Apr 5-10), and we expect both Dalpra and Galvao to sign up. If they face off, it won't be for the first time– that happened last year at the invitational EUG tournament where Galvao narrowly defeated Dalpra in a high-octane match. While the stakes at Pans are high and neither would be satisfied with anything less than gold, the result at Pans could possibly carry over to the World Championships in June where a showdown in the final would be the perfect setting for them to settle their professional rivalry.

Who emerges the winner at Pans will, for a while at least, hold the title of the best middleweight grappler on the planet. If they both enter in the same form we saw from them this last weekend, it could be the best middleweight showdown in Pans history.