Marcel Goncalves was a former instructor at Fight Sports BJJ. In August of 2021, the greater jiu-jitsu world became aware of sexual assault charges made against Marcel Goncalves, as well as criminal measures filed against him.

The community also learned of allegations that Fight Sports founder and top competitor Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu had mishandled the situation involving Goncalves by attempting to silence his victim and harboring Goncalves after he was arrested. These allegations were brought to the attention of the community.

In addition, charges were made against Abreu that he and other male employees at Fight Sports had previously mismanaged reports of sexual misconduct and assault against women in a manner comparable to what was said to have happened in this case.

Since then, Abreu has separated himself from his former student Goncalves and removed the black belt he previously held.

Goncalves, Abreu, and Fight Sports were named defendants in a complaint submitted to the Miami-Dade Circuit Court in December 2021.

According to the allegations made in the complaint filed in that case, Goncalves allegedly started abusing the unnamed plaintiff in late 2017, when the plaintiff was 16 years old, and Goncalves was in his 30s.

Goncalves was the plaintiff's jiu-jitsu instructor at the time, and the lawsuit claims that he took advantage of the power that came with this position to continue to abuse the plaintiff for many months "every weekend."

In the case, Abreu is named as a defendant because of his alleged incompetence in addressing the sexual abuse allegations and because it is alleged that Abreu was aware of the sexual misbehavior in the past.

In addition, the plaintiff claims that because Abreu did not take action to put a stop to such activity, he was responsible for fostering an environment at Fight Sports that enabled sexual abuse to take place.

The deadlines have been extended in the sexual misconduct case involving Fight Sports.

Judge Jose Rodriguez opened the deadlines in the current case on Monday by entering an order that was reached by agreement.

According to the revised timetable, the parties have until January 19, 2023, to finish all of the discovery, which includes providing responses to interrogatories, producing documents, and depositing witnesses.

February 20, 2023, has been established as the deadline for "trial ready" status.

Importantly, this deadline only sometimes guarantees that a trial will occur; the parties could come to a settlement or resolution before then, or the court could determine the case after the parties present dispositive motions. Either way, it is possible that the trial will not take place.

In addition, the trial might not occur on February 20, 2023, because the parties only needed to be prepared for trial on that day.

Abreu continues to compete.

Abreu, who is now 41 years old, has continued to compete in major jiu-jitsu and grappling events despite the allegations that have been made against him as well as the criticism he has gotten, which includes an investigative piece that was published by the New York Times.

Abreu was the absolute champion of the ADCC in 2013 and won gold at the IBJJF Pan Championships in 2022. Most recently, he competed at the 2022 ADCC World Championships, where he was eliminated in the first round of his weight division but advanced to the semifinals of the absolute division.

When Abreu plays in the IBJJF Absolute Grand Prix on Friday, an eight-man competition that is only open to those who have been invited, he will have the opportunity to win a prize pool worth $40,000.

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