Oliver Taza

Oliver Taza is a Lebanese-Canadian jiu-jitsu athlete who represented teams such as the Trystar Gym, Renzo Gracie Academy, and New Wave Jiu-Jitsu in the sport’s international circuit. Guided by coaches Firas Zahabi and John Danaher, Oliver Taza first made waves in the sport in 2016, a time when he placed second at the ADCC East Coast Trails – one of grappling’s foremost tournaments – with only two years of training. During the years that followed, Taza consistently proved to be at the top of jiu-jitsu’s ladder by placing in the podiums of numerous pro events such as the BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix, the ADCC USA Trials, ADCC European Trials, and Jitz King Invitational.

Oliver Taza Jiu-Jitsu

Full Name: Oliver Taza

Nickname: N/A

Lineage: Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Renzo Gracie > John Danaher> Oliver Taza

Main Achievements (Pro):

• 1st Place ADCC European Trials (2017)
• 1st Place BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix (2020)
• 1st Place TUFF Invitational UK (2017)
• 1st Place Canadian Kumite Grand Prix (2016)
• 2nd Place ADCC US East Coast Trials (2016)
• 2nd Place Jitz King Invitational (2020)
• 2nd Place Para Bellum Quintet Invitational (2020)
• 4th Place ADCC US West Coast Trials (2017)

Main Achievements (Amateur):

• 1st Place IBJJF World Championship – NoGi (2017 brown)
• 1st Place ACBJJ European Championship – Gi (2018 brown)
• 1st Place UAEJJF Niagara Falls Pro – Gi (2018 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship – NoGi (2017 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF European Open – NoGi (2017 brown)
• 2nd Place IBJJF New York Spring Open – Gi (2018 brown)
• 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship – NoGi (2015 purple)
• 2nd Place IBJJF European Open – Gi (2016 purple)
• 3rd Place IBJJF Rome Open – Gi (2017** brown)
• 3rd Place UAEJJF Grand Slam, LDN – Gi (2018 brown)

* Absolute
** Weight and Absolute

Favorite Position/Technique: Saddle

Weight Division: 77,00 kg / 169.7 lbs

Team/Association: New Wave Jiu-Jitsu

Oliver Taza Biography

Oliver Taza was born in 1993, in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. From Beirut, Oliver moved with his family to Saudi Arabia before finally settling in Canada when he was 14 years old.

During his stay in Canada, young Oliver practiced a number of sports, giving more emphasis to football (soccer), which he played up until his 19th birthday, competing and representing his school and province of Quebec.

In 2012 Oliver felt saturated with the way his soccer career was going and decided to have a break from the pitch. This change of dynamics led him to Firas Zahabi‘s Tri Star Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) academy in Montreal. Taza tried every facet of MMA, including jiu-jitsu for the first 3 months at TriStar but felt more connected with boxing at the time, choosing to focus solely on the sweet science. 6 amateur boxing matches later, in February 2014 Taza returned to Zahabi’s grappling class.

From early on, as a purple belt, Taza started making trips to New York, with the intention of training at the Renzo Gracie Academy with coach John Danaher, one of the most prestigious instructors in combat sports. The close contact with the famous Renzo Gracie Academy only helped further develop Oliver’s tremendous potential, who, in June 2016 earned his brown belt, with just over 2 years of training. An incredible achievement in a sport where, more often than not, high ranks take nearly a decade to achieve.

It was as a brown belt that Oliver started making his mark in the sport, competing in the professional no-gi circuit and the amateur league of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF). His progression was slowed down by an ACL reconstructive surgery in 2018, which removed him from the competition scene for the best part of one year, but he returned in 2019 as strong as ever.

On November 09, 2020, Oliver Taza was promoted to black belt by coach John Danaher in New York City.

NOTE REGARDING OLIVER TAZA’S RECORD

Traditionally BJJ Heroes has only accounted for black belt records as they signify an athlete’s entry into our sport’s elite ranks. Oliver, however, is a particular case in our sport as he had been successfully competing in the pro-grappling circuit since his purple belt days. This has left BJJ Heroes with a delicate predicament of defining when to start accounting for the Canadian’s matches. Given that Taza had so many high-level wins as a brown belt, we decided to take those into consideration for his jiu-jitsu record.

Oliver Taza vs PJ Barch at BJJ Fanatics GP (2020)