PORT ORANGE, Fla. — A Port Orange jiu-jitsu coach is behind bars, accused of grooming and sexually abusing a 16-year-old student, and the owner of the gym where the alleged abuse began said he heard warnings about the coach months before police were called.
Estevan Gabriel Martinez-Garcia, 33, was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after Port Orange police said he sexually abused a juvenile student at Bully Me Now Mixed Martial Arts. Investigators said the alleged abuse went on for about a year, from spring 2025 through spring 2026, and included sexual contact and sexually explicit images sent to the teen
Victor Ezeir, the owner of Bully Me Now, told Channel 9 that multiple people raised concerns about Martinez-Garcia’s behavior over roughly 10 months. Ezeir said people told him they had seen the coach and the teenager interacting in ways that made them uncomfortable.
“I lived by just having trust, and I got burned,” Ezeir said.
Ezeir said he eventually fired Martinez-Garcia. But he did not immediately report the allegations to police because, he said, the 16-year-old denied that anything inappropriate was happening.
Martinez-Garcia then left Florida.
Ezeir said the situation changed after he received messages from a woman who knew Martinez-Garcia in the past. He said those messages prompted him to take another look at what was happening.
Ezeir said he showed the messages to the teenager and asked whether he was sure nothing was going on.
“That’s when it came out,” Ezeir said.
Port Orange police began investigating the allegations in July 2026. Detectives determined Martinez-Garcia had engaged in grooming behavior involving the teenager, according to police.
Investigators said they found evidence of sexual contact as well as sexually explicit images sent to the juvenile. Police eventually tracked Martinez-Garcia to Albuquerque.
Investigators said he confessed to the allegations after being located in New Mexico.
Ezeir said the case has forced him to reconsider how much trust is placed in adult coaches who work with children.
“The parents would like me to let everybody know this: Manipulation is real. Grooming is real,” Ezeir said.
When asked whether the incident would lead to changes in the gym’s policies or protocols, Ezeir said the gym did not have formal policies in place that he could change.
He said he will no longer allow another adult man to have the same access inside his building. Ezeir also said he regrets not going to the police sooner after hearing concerns about Martinez-Garcia.
Martinez-Garcia is facing multiple charges, including sexual battery of a 16- or 17-year-old by an offender 24 or older and unlawful use of a two-way communications device. He was arrested in New Mexico and is expected to eventually be brought back to Volusia County.
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