Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout Mica Galvao posted an emotional Instagram video addressing his upbringing and the treatment he says he experienced growing up, amid broader allegations against his father, Melqui Galvao.
Mica opened by saying that certain experiences he had growing up, which he long believed were normal, turned out to be far from it.
“There were certain things that I thought had happened in my life that I thought were normal,” he said. “And I realized that they weren’t even a little normal.”
He described being conditioned from a young age to follow orders without question.
“I was always very taught not to ask anything, I was always very taught to just follow orders, do what had to be done,” he said, recalling being told: “Don’t think, just execute, let me think… your head doesn’t work for anything.”
Mica explained that any time he tried to express his own opinion, he was met with aggression.
“Every time I gave my opnion, or every time I thought about bringing a little of my thought, a little of what I wanted to do… I was received with a certain aggressiveness. Sometimes verbal, sometimes physical.”
He then recounted a specific incident around age 13 or 14 at the dinner table.
“At the table, I was told to put more salad on my plate, and I did,” Mica explained. “But like most teenagers who are growing, getting stronger, and becoming a little rebellious, I reacted in a certain way.”
He added that he was also threatened with further punishment if he continued questioning authority.
“I was slapped,” he said. “And then I heard: ‘You’re thinking too much.’ Basically, the message was: ‘Anything that’s in your head, I’ll beat it out of you.’”
Mica also spoke about his sister bearing the brunt of physical treatment.
“There was one incident during a fig ht where our father hit my sister,” he said. “She was slapped so hard that her face was bleeding and marked afterward.”
He noted she had a more assertive personality and felt this made her a larger target.
He described a controlling dynamic involving access to family members, being told he had to win competitions to be allowed visits.
“If you don’t train, if you don’t know this, you don’t go.”
Despite everything he shared, Mica was firm in separating his mother and sister from the larger allegations.
“I know the truth, my mother knows the truth, my sister knows the truth, that we were not in contact with any of this.”
He also denied any role in pressuring anyone connected to the ongoing situation.
Mica ended the video with a message directed toward fathers and parents.
“If you’re a father, understand that your words carry a lot of power,” he said. “A lot of power, truly.”
