Diego “Pato” Oliveira was arguably the best overall grappler of the past year. The 2021 gi and no-gi Pans and Worlds champion has announced that he has officially left his longtime team of Cicero Costha and will be joining the rapidly growing Dream Art Project.
“Today I come to thank Cicero Costha for opening the door to his academy in 2015 when I came from Manaus at only 15, for letting me train and evolve. Today our paths are going to different places but gratitude follows, as we speak, one helped the other without hard feelings today,” Oliveira wrote.
“Another one chosen to be part of our history. Welcome.”
Oliveira has been competing as a Cicero Costha representative since he was a teenage. In 2021, he spent much of his time training alongside a number of other Cicero Costha representatives at Unity Jiu-Jitsu in New York.
In short, Oliveira had an incredible year of competition last year. In addition to winning both Pans and Worlds in the gi and no-gi, Oliveira won the EUG no-gi grand prix with impressive wins over Gianni Grippo and Gabriel Sousa. Oliveira also earned third at the inaugural Who’s Number One Championships on the strength of victories over Damien Anderson and Josh Cisneros.
Oliveira will join an exceptionally strong team in Dream Art. The squad boasts a number of elite competitors, including Grappling Insider’s female gi grappler of the year Anna Rodrigues, and well as 2021 IBJJF world champion Erich Munis.
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