Diego ‘’Pato’’ Oliveira - BJJ Black Belt World Champion

Diego Oliveira was born in Parintins, a town near the Amazon River in Brazil, on October 2, 1998. He is a top-ranked light-featherweight BJJ competitor who won many championships in his weight division. Oliveria started his jiu-jitsu career after being inspired by his cousin. Now, he is a black-belt athlete and a winner of many IBJJF World Championships.

Oliveria grew up in Brazil and then moved to Manaus with his father at 10. In his pre-teens, Oliveira was influenced by his cousin who had started mixed martial arts (MMA) and desired to become an MMA fighter one day. But his cousin stopped him from BJJ training and urged him to first make a perfect base in the groundwork which according to him was a necessary element to the cage fighting sport. Then after he reached the age of 13, Olveira determined to heed in his cousin’s footsteps and joined Arley Silva’s jiu-jitsu school.

In 2012, Oliveira took his first jiu-jitsu class in Arley Silva’s Jiu-Jitsu academy, a black belt grappler who established a social project near Oliveira’s neighborhood. Silva took Oliveira to the rank of green belt but after his school project flopped, Oliveira was left with no coach. At that time, Oliveira was fully entrenched in BJJ’s tournament so he decided to resume his journey by joining the Nabil JJ academy.

In 2014, at the age of 14, Oliveira got to the rank of the green belt under his first jiu-jitsu school by Arley Silva. After Oliveira got his green belt, Silva’s project fell through and Oliveira was left with no coach.

In 2016, at the age of 16, Oliveira was promoted to the blue belt under Nabil Abdul Aziz, a jiu-jitsu academy he joined after being promoted to the green belt. After earning his blue belt, Oliveira decided to move out of Manaus and try his fate in Rio de Janeiro by competing at the IBJJF Rio Open.

Oliveira started his jiu-jitsu career with Arley Silva, and Oliveira got his green belt under his instructorship. After that, Oliveria joined the Nabil JJ academy, a gym run by Nabil Adel Aziz, Oliveira got to the level of the blue belt under his instructorship and then moved from Manaus. At the age of 15 years, Oliveira met with well-known coach Cicero Costha and joined him in Sáo Paulo. Oliveira got his black belt under coach Cicero Costha.

Oliveira competed in various BJJ events as a colored belt and became one of the best grapplers in colored belts in the light featherweight division, winning many international titles. He won many many IBJJF World Championships, and Pan championships in the colored belt.

In June 2019, Oiveira was promoted to the rank of black belt by Cicero Costha. Oliveira made his name in the jiu-jitsu world as a black belt after an incredible competitive 2021, when he was widely regarded as one of the year’s best competitors.

Oliveira is often recognized as “Pato”, a nickname given by his training partners when he was a young grappler but had very large feet concerning his body. Pato is a Portuguese word, Oliveira’s native language for “Duck”.

In January 2022, Oliveira decided to leave coach Cicero Costha to join the esteemed Dream Art Academy. Pato was excited to immerse himself in a top coaching academy. Now, Oliveira is a major acquisition for the Dream Academy.

In February 2023, Oliveira left the Dream Academy and joined the Arts of Jiu-Jitsu academy. Oliveira is an asset for the Arts of Jiu-Jitsu academy as he is a world’s top ranked black belt athlete both gi and no-gi.

Diego Oliveira competed with Gabriel Sousa at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship as a black belt. At the start of the fight, Gabriel Sousa got two quick points using the guard polo technique. Then Oliveira got two points by leg takedown technique. After a pretty intense match, Oliveira won the fight by advantage points.

Diego Oliveira faced Diogo Reis at IBJJF World Championship 2022 in a light-featherweight match as a black belt. After a long intense match, Oliveira scored the first two points by taking down Reis using his left leg and arm and won the fight.

Diego Oliveira fought with Meyram Maquiné at IBJJF World Championship 2021 in the light featherweight as a black belt. Maquiné scored first at the start of the match using a guard pole.  Then Oliveira got two points by taking down Maquiné with his leg-lock technique, but Maquiné immediately scored another two points by sweeping back. Oliveira got two points by maintaining the leg-lock position again. In the end, Oliveira won the fight with his excellent hook technique.

Diego Pato Oliveira vs. Joshua Cisneros | 2021 Pan IBJJF No-Gi Championship

Diego Pato v Mario Alvarado / Los Angeles Open 2023

Diego "Pato" Oliveira v Malachi Edmond / World Championship 2021

Photo Credit: @diegopatojj