João Miyao is crediting one of his career achievements to a week that started with him getting hit by an electric bike. In a recent Instagram post, Miyao showed abrasions across his back and arm, explaining that the collision happened while he was out running, just seven days before he stepped onto the mat and walked away with what he says was his sixth Master World title. Until that total is reflected in the official record, it’s worth treating as Miyao’s own account of the achievement rather than a number confirmed through third-party title lists.
What makes the story notable isn’t just the medal, it’s the timeline behind it. Elite competitors are used to talking through rough training camps, nagging injuries, or difficult weight cuts. Getting hit by a vehicle a week before competing is an entirely different category of setback, one that can shift the conversation from how to prepare to whether competing makes sense at all.
To his credit, Miyao didn’t turn the post into a medical update or a detailed breakdown of his recovery. He simply showed the visible injuries and let the timing speak for itself: struck while running, then back on the mat and winning a week later. What the post doesn’t tell anyone is what treatment he received, how much training he actually missed in that window, or what medical guidance factored into his decision to compete anyway. That restraint is worth noting. The achievement doesn’t need embellishment, and a single photo was never going to tell the complete physical story.
Miyao’s résumé already made him one of the most recognizable lightweights in the sport well before this. IBJJF’s athlete records list World Master gold finishes in both 2024 and 2025, and the federation’s own 2026 coverage referred to him as a former adult World champion and a back-to-back Master World champion heading into this year’s event.
What the Instagram post really changes is the framing around this latest title. The story isn’t that an accident somehow made him unstoppable. It’s that a veteran competitor made the call to compete after a genuinely bad week and still walked away with another world championship.
A freelance journalist with more than seven years of experience covering a wide range of topics, with a focus on delivering accurate, engaging, and well-researched reporting. He studied at the University of Birmingham, where he developed a strong foundation in journalism and communications. Martin is a 10th Planet BJJ brown belt and has been training for approximately 10 years and a keen follower of submission grappling.
