Road To Gold: Dorian Olivarez Grinds Through No-Gi Worlds
Road To Gold: Dorian Olivarez Grinds Through No-Gi Worlds
Dorian Olivarez blitzed the field at No-Gi Worlds with great wrestling and unreal pace on his way to brown belt gold - see how he got it done here
Dorian Olivarez is a one-of-one unique figure in grappling today. No one is combining wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and sheer willpower into a more effective offensive force than he is. When you consider that he's still only in high school and already winning at the highest levels, there's no ceiling on what Dorian Olivarez can accomplish in the sport of grappling (and perhaps beyond). That was all on full display here at the 2024 IBJJF No-Gi World Championships where he won lightweight gold in a stunningly dominant performance.
Dorian has been working with the New Wave team in addition to his own private Team Olivarez training, with Professor John Danaher very high on his prospects long-term as a champion. Dorian was most recently active at the ADCC Austin Open, where he won double gold by beating some great fighters. Here, he had five matches to bring home first place and he got to work early.
Sean Cantu, to his credit, wasn't intimidated by Dorian's wrestling pedigree and shot right in - only to get head pinched and nearly caught up in a front headlock submission. From there, Dorian got right back to his takedowns, got on top, and used his loose passing to get around into a back take. It was short time until the choke came on and Dorian was advancing in no time.
The second round was more of the same for Dorian, pushing pace and pressure into the PSF opponent Joshua Lawson until he was able to secure another submission, this time from his guillotine choke. This put him into the do-or-die quarterfinal round against Dylan Garafolo - a recent AIGA athlete who has been showing more success over the last year. Against Olivarez though, it didn't matter.
Dorian shot early, got his points but wouldn't stop there. He started in on his trademark outside passing, moving his feet laterally in quick bursts to get to dominant angles of attack. Finally, he broke through to side control with a half nelson - one that Garofalo nearly turned against him with a bottom ezekiel. Still, Dorian weathered the storm and turned that control of the head into his own north south choke attempt. Finally Garofalo escaped but Dorian has no chill - he was right back onto the passing and the head control and finally turned his next passing sequence into another north south for the finish.
Olivarez was guaranteed a podium placement but had more work to do, first against Six Blades's Noah Alves. After some early exchanges it was again Olivarez securing his takedown and working away from top, this time mixing in more tight passing with weaves and body locks against a tricky guard. This would pay off with a knee slide/underhook sequence that turned into a back take for Dorian. Alves would bail but leave behind the neck - and Dorian snatched it with a north south choke to advance to the finals.
With one last match for the gold, Dorian would take on Luca Martone-Martel, who was himself having a great tournament with a few quality wins heading in. Could he stand up to the pace and pressure of Olivarez? Short answer, no (but who at brown belt can?). Dorian shot from space then emptied the tank from the top position, using flanking sequences to pass his way through in short order. From there, he kept up the offense until he finally locked up a wicked kimura and left no doubt.
What's next for Dorian Olivarez? It remains to be seen for sure, but he's got the whole game following his every move right now. This is another gold medal in a growing case for Dorian, and one of the most important. With the black belt level looming, could he come back and repeat this kind of performance next year against the best of the best? With Dorian, there's no limits on his potential.