‘My Heroes Became My Coaches’ – Inside 18-Year-Old Helena Crevar’s Fairytale Journey To ONE Championship
Helena Crevar‘s journey from Las Vegas to ONE Championship’s global stage reads like a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fairytale – the heroes she once studied online became the coaches who transformed her into a black belt superstar.
On Friday, January 23, the American prodigy makes her hotly anticipated promotional debut against Teshya Noelani Alo in a bantamweight submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 39: Rambolek vs. Dayakaev on Prime Video, which broadcasts live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Stadium.
Training daily alongside grappling royalty under the tutelage of John Danaher at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, Texas, the 18-year-old compressed her progression from purple belt to black belt into just nine months.
Before she became teammates with her idols and earned her shot on the global stage, learn how a homeschooled Vegas kid became one of the most feared names in the submission grappling world.
Discovering Her Calling
Helena Crevar was born in Las Vegas to Serbian parents who had immigrated from Eastern Europe. As an only child with her extended family still living in Serbia, the phenom’s world revolved entirely around her mother and father.
She was homeschooled from kindergarten onward, a decision that prioritized flexibility over traditional education and would prove critical when martial arts training later demanded hours no conventional school schedule could accommodate.
Crevar told onefc.com:
“They’re definitely very supportive. All the rest of my family is in Europe, so it’s pretty much just me and my parents, and we do everything together.”
At three years old, she entered her first martial arts gym to study Kajukenbo – a Hawaiian-bred style that blends together BJJ, karate, judo, kenpo, and kung fu.
For five years, Crevar trained in the discipline, but even as a young child, certain techniques resonated more than others.
She continued:
“I always loved wrestling. Even when I was four or five years old in Kajukenbo, they would bring in wrestling and jiu-jitsu for the kids, and I really liked that.”
Crevar tried other sports – the typical childhood exploration. But nothing stuck quite like grappling.
At eight years old, she was eager to try out a strength and conditioning class at a local gym. The academy also offered jiu-jitsu, and curiosity led her to try a single class. That session changed everything.
She recalled:
“I really just decided to try that out once, and I just found that I really liked it. Fast forward two-to-three months later, I already wanted to compete in it.
“You know, they do call it ‘the gentle art,’ so you’re not punching anyone or kicking them or causing them to bleed or anything like that. But still, there are so many techniques that you really have to use your mind when you’re doing it, and you’re always finding new ways to do things.”
Studying Heroes & Making A Big Move
By the time Helena Crevar turned 14, she had transitioned from casual competitor to professional athlete, racking up wins across the Vegas jiu-jitsu circuit.
Her most significant development came at Cobrinha Las Vegas under Professor Hector Vasquez, where she built a solid foundation through consistent practice and competition.
Crevar added:
“I trained at a couple of different gyms in Vegas. The first one I trained at, I was only there for a year. After that, I was at an MMA gym where I tried Muay Thai and boxing, but I didn’t really enjoy that.”
But Crevar’s education wasn’t limited to the mat.
The Las Vegas native became a devoted follower of Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu – formerly known as New Wave Jiu-Jitsu. She obsessively studied Gordon Ryan’s submission brilliance and purchased John Danaher’s instructional video series to dissect the techniques alone in her bedroom.
Crevar shared:
“I watched all his [Gordon’s] matches and everything, and I also would buy John Danaher’s instructionals and try to learn from him on my own, and try to experiment with those things that he would teach in his instructionals when I was training in Vegas.”
Crevar had no idea those same people would soon become her coaches. At that point, they were simply legends operating on a level that seemed almost mythical.
In 2022, everything changed. At 15 years old, she met Ryan for the first time and received an invitation to try a class at Kingsway’s private facility in Texas. Her family had already been considering relocation – they had visited both Dallas and Austin multiple times and liked what they saw.
The chance for Crevar to train at one of the world’s most elite BJJ academies made the decision easy.
She recalled:
“We were already thinking about moving somewhere, but we really liked Texas. But [being able to train at Kingsway] was a really good reason for us to move. So, we decided on it together to move because of jiu-jitsu as well.”
When Heroes Become Professors
Once settled at Georgetown, Texas, a quieter town about 30 minutes from Austin, Helena Crevar accelerated her homeschool curriculum, graduating a full year and a half early around age 17. The pieces were falling into place. Her heroes were about to become her professors.
Her first real training session at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu introduced her to the full roster of living legends. Aside from Danaher and Ryan, there were BJJ World Champions, including ONE Championship athletes Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon and Giancarlo Bodoni.
As Crevar puts it, walking onto that mat for the first time felt surreal:
“I was definitely really amazed when I did my first training session. It was pretty amazing to be in the same training room as them, and to, later on, get the opportunity to train with them and roll with them.
“It was making me nervous and everything, but it was also very fun to be able to get that experience because not many people do – especially at that time because it was a private facility.”
The people whose techniques she’d dissected through YouTube videos and online tutorials were now offering corrections during live rolls, like adjusting her grips and showing her details that no video could fully capture.
Crevar’s improvement wasn’t gradual, either. It was exponential. Training three to four hours daily with grappling royalty, the teen sensation’s timing, positioning, and submission chains evolved to a level she couldn’t have imagined back in Vegas.
She added:
“All of them really put the time in to help me out and improve my skills. I came with, I’d say, a decent base already, but they really helped me refine everything. I noticed rapid improvement from the first month. And when I was three-to-four months in, I felt like I was a different athlete.”
Beyond working with the planet’s best BJJ practitioners, Crevar’s natural aptitude for grappling allowed her to absorb techniques and implement them at a rate that surprised even her coaches.
The evidence of that natural talent, combined with world-class coaching, revealed itself through her belt progression. Not only did she become the first woman to receive a black belt from Danaher, but she did so in a timeframe that would normally take most people ten years or more to attain.
Crevar said:
“I got my purple belt in September 2024. Then, I was promoted to brown in December. So, I was still 17. And then in June last year, I got my black belt when I was 18. So, in less than a year, I went from being promoted from purple to black belt.”
The Global Stage Awaits
Helena Crevar has been dominant in competition, defeating opponents from the juvenile ranks all the way through her brown belt career and collecting World Titles along the way.
Besides that, she earned a silver medal at just 17 years old at the 2024 ADCC World Championship – becoming the youngest podium finisher in the program’s history.
Those accomplishments caught the attention of ONE Championship, and she officially joined the roster last July.
Just weeks after her promotional debut was announced in late November, Crevar submitted all four of her opponents en route to claiming the biggest prize of her career in her black belt debut – gold at the 2025 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship – in Las Vegas.
Still, Crevar believes she’s on the cusp of even greater things in the world’s largest martial arts organization:
“I’ve been watching ONE for a few years now. I watched my teammates, Garry and Giancarlo, compete on it as well. And I really like the show.
“It’s really the best show out there because it has different sports. Like MMA, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and things like that, and it’s a super big crowd, and the venue and everything look amazing. So, when I got the opportunity to join, I was really excited to take it.”
Crevar stands at the beginning of what promises to be another remarkable chapter in her ever-thriving martial arts journey.
The progression from studying Ryan and Danaher’s instructional videos from her Vegas bedroom to rolling with them on the Kingsway mats in Austin represents a journey few could have imagined. Yet for Crevar, it feels entirely natural.
As she prepares to step into the ring against Hawaii’s Teshya Noelani Alo in the historic Lumpinee Stadium, there’s no anxiety about living up to expectations or proving herself worthy of the opportunity. There’s only excitement.
She said:
“There’s no pressure. I’m just really excited to make my debut because I’ve been watching the events for a really long time now. I’m really excited to put on a show for the whole crowd.”
