Helena Crevar was barely a teenager when she first surprised her Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor. At just 15, she faced UFC veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in a 25-minute match that tested her skill, endurance, and composure.
Her coach, Hector Vasquez, described the moment as nothing short of extraordinary to Texas Monthly:
“Two years in, Helena was the one beating up visitors, including black belts”
“She even held her own in a 25-minute match with the notoriously dogged UFC star Donald Cerrone. (Vasquez refuses, on honor, to say who won.)”
Born in Las Vegas to Serbian immigrant parents, she was immersed in discipline and performance from a young age. Her mother, a European bodybuilding champion, and her father, a dedicated supporter, exposed Helena to multiple sports, from ballroom dancing to Hawaiian kajukenbo, in which she earned a junior black belt.
Even as a child, Helena’s focus and precision were striking. She studied martial arts moves obsessively, often sending links and ideas to her early coaches. It became clear that she wasn’t just playing a sport; she was learning a language, one defined by strategy, timing, and body mechanics.
Helena had already established a reputation for defeating much more experienced MMA stars. Vasquez notes:
“Two years in, Helena was the one beating up visitors, including black belts “
Crevar’s star is on the rize, having won the female bracket at CJI2 with a submission over Sarah Galvao.
Previously she revealed that she
after moving to train under John Danaher and alongside Gordon Ryan.
The decision to step away from gi training wasn’t taken lightly. Crevar, who had been competing in both gi and no-gi since she was around 12-13 years old, found herself fully immersed in New Wave’s no-gi focused training environment.
“After I moved to New Wave, I kind of stopped training gi for two years,”
Crevar’s path to professional grappling wasn’t predetermined. She revealed that during her early years training, she wasn’t even aware of the professional jiu-jitsu landscape.
“The first couple of years I didn’t really know anything about professional jujitsu. I didn’t really follow the competitions or anything, but like deeper into my journey, I kind of really enjoyed watching the whole New Wave team, watching John and his instructionals, watching Gordon and Gary competing.”
That interest eventually led her to join the DDS, now known as Kingsway, three years ago. Training full-time under Danaher in Austin, Texas, she credits the environment with accelerating her development.
“It’s been amazing. Just in December, it was three years since I moved to train full-time under the team and it’s really like every day I feel improvement in my training. We’re always experimenting new things. We have a big team like a lot of people that come in from all over. So it’s really good training and I just feel like I’ve improved so much ever since I joined.”
Recently Helena Crevar publicly addressed the controversy over missing her contracted 145 lbs weight for her ONE Championship bout, taking full responsibility for choosing the division while disputing exaggerated claims about her weight miss.
After failing initial hydration at 151 lbs (69 kg), she prioritized passing the test, ultimately weighing in at 161 lbs (73 kg), and the matchwas shifted to open weight. At 18, with a natural walking weight of 155–158 lbs (70–72 kg), Crevar acknowledged that repeated drastic weight cuts are unsustainable and intends to compete closer to her natural weight for health and performance.
She framed the experience as a learning moment for herself and other athletes while reaffirming her commitment to competing at a healthy, performance-focused weight.
