Dorian Olivarez - Young BJJ Grappler and Wrestler

Dorian Olivarez has emerged as a seasoned submission grappler at the young age of 18. Well-known for his prowess in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and folkstyle wrestling, Olivarez has secured many notable accomplishments at the most prestigious tournaments organized by the IBJJF, ADCC, and USA Wrestling. With his own father at the helm of his training, Dorian made headlines in the mainstream BJJ circuit by winning the highly competitive 2023 ADCC East Coast Trials at the age of 17. Dorian Olivarez’s victory in the 2023 ADCC East Coast Trials was an impressive event that did not occur frequently in jiu-jitsu. After all, besting some of the most accomplished names of BJJ, such as Emilio Hernandez, Ethan Crelinsten , and Gianni Grippo, at the ADCC Trials is anything but easy. 

Dorian Michael Olivarez was born and grew up in Houston, Texas on the 6th of December 2005. Olivarez got his interest in the sports from his parents. Both of his parents were involved in sports from their childhood. His mother, Linda had been competing in Bodybuilding for many years. His father, Mike Olivarez is an elite BJJ Black Belt Champion.

Dorian Olivarez used to watch mixed martial arts in his childhood. That was the point where he decided to be a fighter. At the age of 6 years, he claimed to his parents that one day he would be a cage fighter. A claim that was fulfilled by Olivarez in his teenage.

When Olivarez announced that he wanted to be a fighter, his father started his practice in his garage. As a top BJJ Black Belt himself, his father knew how to train Olivarez. Olivarez expressed equal talent for wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu which is why his father started installing in him some basic skills of both games. In the beginning, his father signed him up for wrestling matches, and later at the age of 10, he added no-gi Jiu-Jitsu to Olivarez’s routine.

Upon watching Dorian Olivarez's great talent both in wrestling and BJJ, his parents asked him to leave school and start studying at home. The main reason is to get some extra time to focus on his career as a fighter. His mother paid attention to his son’s studies, weight, and diet while his father took charge of his training at his gym.

His father also asked his friends and other coaches to come and train Olivarez.

From the fundamentals of grappling to more advanced moves, transitions, and complex submission strategies, Dorian Olivarez learned how to dominate his opponents from his father. Even in the most elite BJJ academies, the support, confidence, and undivided attention that Dorian’s father trained him with could not be found. Mike Olivarez also brought coaches and training partners to his home garage to better train Dorian and expand his horizons, preparing him to survive and conquer competitive environments.

Though Dorian did visit Austin’s B-Team a few times to train and learn combat skills that were helpful for him during jiu-jitsu competitions, his father remained his head coach throughout his BJJ journey. Additionally, Dorian Olivarez registered through B-Team for three IBJJF tournaments held in 2022-2023 due to the IBJJF’s requirements for BJJ academies to be registered before the athletes can compete. Since there was not enough time for Dorian’s father to register, Dorian turned to B-Team for the same requirement. They were supportive and allowed Dorian Olivarez to register under them. However, he didn’t train with the B-Team for these events. 

Dorian Olivarez used “The Problem” as his nickname in BJJ fights. The history behind this nickname is that Olivarez's training partners used to call him “a problem” during training sessions. Once, his training partner was calling him a problem and it was filmed in a video that was later uploaded on YouTube. In this way, Olivarez got his nickname.

Besides participating and making his name in wrestling, Olivarez had so many achievements in Jiu-Jitsu as well. He won several gold medals in the IBJJF Worlds, IBJJF Pan No-Gi Championship, IBJJF American Nationals, and Abu Dhabi Combat Club East Coast Trails. In the ADCC East Coast Trials, he won four straight fights without losing any and secured his gold medal. After the match he said,

Dorian Olivarez started his career as a wrestler and secured many gold medals. Olivarez got 2nd place in the 2023, NHSCH High School Nationals, and USA Southern Plains Regionals, first place in Brian Kech Memorial Pre-Season Nationals, USA Folkstyle Nationals, and KC Super 32 qualifier.

Moreover, in 2021 he won several gold medals in the VA Super 32, SKWC May Madness Freestyle, and Freak Show National Championships.

Also in 2020, he won gold medals in several wrestling tournaments such as KC Super 32, and Super 32.

In the final stage of ADCC East Coast Trials, Dorian Michael fought with Dominic Mejia who is a Black Belt Fighter. The match lasted for complete 10 minutes and both the players tried so hard to take down each other. In the first 9 minutes, none of them secured any points and could not try any submission. But in the last minute, Olivarez got three points for guard passing and three points for choking the opponent. Hence, Olivarez won the match by 6 points, and the opponent could not secure any points.

In the third round of ADCC East Coast Trials 2023, Dorian Olivarez faced another top Black Belt Champion, Suraj Budhram. The fight was very impressive and short. In the start, Olivarez brilliantly takedown Budhram, and soon after that the opponent taped out, and Olivarez won the match by Rear Naked Choke Submission.

In the Semi-Final round of the 2023 ADCC East Coast Trials, Dorian Olivarez faced a top Black Belt fighter, Ethan Crelinsten. Olivarez already knew Crelinstein from the B Team. Ethan Crelinsten started the match by pulling guard, which was swept by the Olivarez. They continued for 6 minutes after that Crelinsten got a penalty and lost the match. After that, Olivarez qualified for the final round.

Dorian Olivarez vs Dominic Mejia | 2023 ADCC East Coast Trials

17 YEAR OLD Dorian Olivarez Dominates At ADCC Trials (HIGHLIGHT)

Photo Credit: @teamolivarez