Hector Vasquez opened up on the Musumeci’s Overdogs Podcast about his personal history with Melqui Galvao, revealing that the embattled coach was once housed, fed and trained at his Las Vegas facility before being removed after what Vasquez described as concerning evidence found on the property.
Vasquez explained that Galvao’s group arrived in the United States and eventually made their way to his gym after a falling out with another athlete. Despite that conflict, Vasquez extended an open invitation.
“Everybody’s welcome. I have a room upstairs. You guys could stay there. I’m gonna pay for your food. I’m gonna take care of you because you guys come and you’re trying to fulfill a dream,”
The group, which included Mica Galvao, Diogo Reis and others, stayed at the facility where Vasquez described providing full support.
“I was paying for their travel. I was paying for the tournaments, to get them out there.”
Suspicion began forming over time. Vasquez recalled noticing the young athletes training alongside a bodybuilder and developing at a rate he found difficult to explain.
“How would you know how you compete at 118 lbs (53.5 kg) or 115 lbs (52.2 kg) and end up in two, three months being 130 lbs (59 kg)? And I was training too and I can’t gain that weight like that. And the weight is muscle. It’s not normal for a 13, 14-year-old kid.”
He also described an incident during a training session where one of the young athletes became unwell.
“He started getting a little sick and I asked Melqui what’s going on and, ‘Oh no, he’s fine, he’s fine.’ But you could see that when he was like, his breathing was not matching the body.”
The turning point came when the group was preparing to leave the gym. The apartment above the facility, where they had been living, revealed more after they departed.
“When the cleaning lady went up there, she found some stuff that confirmed what was going on,”
Vasquez added that despite the apartment being heavily damaged before they left, his security cameras had recorded everything.
“I have video cameras everywhere. I have all those pictures with me. I didn’t want to say anything because it wasn’t my position.”
Vasquez ultimately consulted with a lawyer and made the decision to remove them from the gym.
“I sent those pictures to the lawyer and he thought, ‘Hey, you know what, the best thing to do is get them out of there because that’s going to ruin yourself.’ And that’s why they got kicked out of the gym.”
He was careful to clarify the limits of what he personally witnessed.
“If you tell me, Hector, did you see it personally? No, I did not see it. But I see that in the trash can. One plus one equals two, my friend. I can prove that it was being used. And that’s why they got kicked out.”
