Dorothy Dao
Dorothy Dao is a Vietnamese-American BJJ black belt under Eduardo Fraga. She currently trains out of Art of Jiu Jitsu in Costa Mesa, California and competes in the light-feather division (-52kg).
Dorothy found jiu-jitsu in 2014, while finishing her final year of university at UC Berkeley. She trained out of Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu’s Berkeley and San Francisco locations until 2017, when she decided to pursue the BJJ globetrotter lifestyle instead of a legal career. Over the course of a few months, she left her corporate job, packed up her life, and moved to Shanghai, China, in search of new adventure. Some of her travels during this period are documented on her BJJASIA blog.
Dorothy’s journey has taken her to over 100 BJJ gyms worldwide and allowed her to live in 6 different countries. After recovering from shoulder surgery, Dorothy returned home to California in July 2023 to train under the Mendes brothers at Art of Jiu Jitsu. This marked a renewed focus on competition at the highest level, as she aims to gradually transition away from adult black belt competition to focus on other life goals. Her ultimate aim in the sport is longevity and to gain as deep an understanding of jiu-jitsu as possible.
Main Achievements (Black Belt):
Main Achievements (Colored Belts):
Dorothy found jiu-jitsu in 2014, while finishing her final year of university at UC Berkeley. She trained out of Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu’s Berkeley and San Francisco locations until 2017, when she decided to pursue the BJJ globetrotter lifestyle instead of a legal career. Over the course of a few months, she left her corporate job, packed up her life, and moved to Shanghai, China, in search of new adventure. Some of her travels during this period are documented on her BJJASIA blog.
Dorothy’s journey has taken her to over 100 BJJ gyms worldwide and allowed her to live in 6 different countries. After recovering from shoulder surgery, Dorothy returned home to California in July 2023 to train under the Mendes brothers at Art of Jiu Jitsu. This marked a renewed focus on competition at the highest level, as she aims to gradually transition away from adult black belt competition to focus on other life goals. Her ultimate aim in the sport is longevity and to gain as deep an understanding of jiu-jitsu as possible.
Main Achievements (Black Belt):
- 1st Place - IBJJF No-Gi Pan-American Championship (2023)
- 3rd Place - IBJJF No-Gi World Championship (2023)
- 1st Place - IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Con No-Gi (2023)
- 1st Place - ADCC Thailand Open (2022)
Main Achievements (Colored Belts):
- 3rd Place - IBJJF Pan-American Championship (2021-brown)
- 1st Place - Fight 2 Win 182 (2021-brown)
- 2nd Place - IBJJF Asian Open (2019-brown)
- 1st Place - ADCC Singapore Open (2018-advanced)
- 2nd Place - IBJJF Pan-Pacific Championship (2018-purple)
- 3rd Place - IBJJF No-Gi World Championship (2017-purple)
- 3rd Place - IBJJF Pan-American Championship (2017-blue)
- 3rd Place - IBJJF No-Gi World Championship (2016-blue)
- 3rd Place - IBJJF World Championship (2016-blue)
@not_dorothydao
