Step into any severe grappling dialog and also you’ll quickly hear the identify Helena Crevar. At simply 18 years outdated, she’s already shaking up the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and now getting into ONE Championship’s grappling enviornment. Her story is much less about hype and extra a couple of decade-long dedication to the artwork.
A Decade On The Mats, Beginning At Age 8
Coaching started early for Helena, beginning at simply eight years outdated in Las Vegas. By her teenagers, she was already setting herself aside, successful worldwide awards in each Gi and No‑Gi. However at 15, she made a decisive transfer, relocating to Austin, Texas, to coach below John Danaher’s elite New Wave Jiu-Jitsu group. That transfer, in some ways, launched her into the highlight.
The Danaher Path: From Junior Black Belt To Feminine First
Being coached by John Danaher means understanding Jiu-Jitsu as a system, not only a recreation. Underneath his steerage, and infrequently alongside prime names like Gordon Ryan and Garry Tonon, Helena accelerated by means of the ranks with surgical precision and imaginative and prescient.
Promotions got here rapidly: she earned her purple belt in September 2024, brown in December 2024, and formally acquired her black belt in June 2025, making her the primary girl ever awarded a black belt immediately by Danaher. That’s not path-based, it’s performance-based elevation.
Elite Titles Earlier than Maturity
At simply 17, Helena grew to become the youngest medalist in ADCC historical past, incomes silver and likewise being the primary feminine athlete to execute a heel hook submission through the event. That alone marked her arrival among the many elite of the game.
Her resume doesn’t cease there. In 2024 she took the Polaris 70 kg championship, and in 2025, she tabulated main titles on the IBJJF World and Pan Championships at brown belt, claiming the championship title in each occasions.
Why She Stands Out
What makes Helena so uncommon isn’t simply the medals that she’s gained, however her mindset.
Many argue that she’s been competing with black belt-level depth since lengthy earlier than she technically earned the rank. That being stated, her recreation isn’t simply one-dimensional. Her stats communicate for itself :her submission price is over 60% by heel hooks and leg assaults. Her mindset is analytical, deliberate, and fearless, even below fatigue.
She treats every match like knowledge; each coaching session a time of refinement and each competitors a lesson. She exemplifies the Danaher college ethos: strategic, scientific, and all the time exact.
Subsequent Chapter At ONE Championship
Together with her ONE Championship signing now official, Helena joins a promotion investing in girls’s grappling. She’s the primary feminine grappling signing at bantamweight and featherweight there. Whereas her first challenger hasn’t been named but, but when her previous is any indicator, she’ll most undoubtedly face her opponents with composure and management.
Why You Ought to Watch
Helena Crevar is greater than a younger black belt. She’s a template for what fashionable Jiu-Jitsu could be for aspiring feminine grapplers, a mix of assault, technique, and composure. She rose not by inheritance or hype however by constant, day by day enhancements below one of many sport’s biggest strategists.
It’s sure that everybody can most undoubtedly see her as proof that keenness plus sensible teaching equates to efficiency, even when that efficiency begins as an adolescent.
That being stated, after the hype and seeing her observe document, are you as excited to look at her unfold in ONE Championship as we’re? Tell us who you’d wish to see her face first!
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