Rodolfo Vieira holds the edge over Andre Galvao in this rivalry, leading 3 to 1 across 4 recorded meetings. Vieira took all three of their gi matches, while Galvao's lone win came earlier, in the no-gi final at the 2009 ADCC USA Trials on points. Two of Vieira's wins were also on points, both in finals, so the head to head was largely decided in the gi at Abu Dhabi and Worlds level events.

The styles fit their records. Vieira built his reputation as one of the top guard passers of his era and finishes at a high rate, with 61% of his recorded wins coming by submission. Galvao is the more all-around competitor with a longer body of work at 190 recorded matches to Vieira's 120, but his submission rate of wins sits at 43%. When they met, Vieira's pressure passing and finishing edge showed up: the one stoppage between them was his Ezekiel Choke at the 2014 Abu Dhabi World Pro semi-finals.

Interestingly, both men share the same favorite submission on record, the Gi Choke From Back, with Vieira landing it 21 times and Galvao 14 times. That says something about where both like to end up, even if their meetings rarely came down to the back.