First Things First

In the lead up to this year’s ADCC World Championships we’re going to analyze the game’s of the athletes competing. If you want to read about ADCC’s newcomers so you can learn the skills, strengths, and patterns their games present, the ADCC Rookie Reports are for you.

Today we’re talking about Dorian Olivarez.

ADCC Rookie Report

We’re back with another ADCC Rookie Report! In the lead up to the 2024 ADCC World Championships we’ll be analyzing the winning runs of athletes that have qualified for their first ADCC World Championship.

How do they win? What makes their game interesting and unique? What opportunities does that game present for their opponents? You can read previous rookie reports here:

• Jacob Couch

• Jozef Chen

• Michael Pixley

• Taylor Pearman

• Owen Jones

We’re constraining these rookie reports to only what the athletes showed in their trials winning performances. This time we’re looking at the relentless wrestling of Dorian Olivarez.

Dorian Olivarez

Olivarez is a teenage grappler from Texas that won the 66KG ADCC qualifier. He trains with the B-Team and in his family’s garage. His father is a black belt, his mother a body builder, and he’s homeschooled. Saying he is being groomed for success is an understatement.

In addition to qualifying for the ADCC World Championships without conceding a single point, Olivarez won the Junior Boys Folkstyle Nationals and has competed at the Super 32, the hardest high school wrestling tournament in the country. He’s also the Combat Jiujitsu World Champion at 135.

Olivarez is one of the hottest prospects across all of combat sports. Today we’re going to take a look at the distinct wrestling attacks, pace, and outside passing that gives him wins.

Wrestling

Olivarez’s wrestling is mean. He doesn’t go around the wall, hee breaks right through it to dominate his opponents.

Dorian does his best work building off snap downs. He pulls on his opponent’s posture until they pull and push back. When they do, he takes advantage of their inefficient hand and footwork to look for under hooks and body locks. Below is a textbook example.

Let’s take a closer look at why this was so emphatically easy.

1. Olivarez reaches to pull on Lucca’s posture

2. Lucca tries to snap back but comes up on his toes, off of his base

3. Olivarez steps through to get his hands around Lucca and lift him for the throw

Olivarez was throwing people all over the mats that day. Look at this other slam he hit on Lucca to start the match.

Olivarez does not simply shoot and reset. He regularly come forward, feints, and pulls on his opponent’s posture until his hips are next to their’s and he can wrestle them to the floor. He gives them no rest, nor room to breathe.

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