Fresh off her rapid rise through the grappling world, Helena Crevar has her eyes on another major challenge – and it involves one of the most accomplished crossover athletes in combat sports.
The 18-year-old black belt recently expressed interest in a submission grappling match with Mackenzie Dern, a multiple-time world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who successfully transitioned into elite-level MMA.
Speaking with Bloody Elbow ahead of her ONE Championship debut, Crevar reflected on Dern’s long-standing presence in the sport and the respect she holds for her resume:
Yeah, definitely. Mackenzie, I’ve known about her pretty much since I started when she was still competing in Jiu-Jitsu.
I believe around then she had already won ADCC and IBJJF black belt worlds.So it’s definitely amazing to see her now going into MMA and also being successful there.
Crevar, who trains under John Danaher at Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu in Austin, has already built one of the most impressive resumes ever seen at her age.
Still, she made it clear that her interest isn’t limited to Dern alone:
I’d really like to compete against some MMA fighters as well in the Jiu-Jitsu format.
I think it would make for an exciting match because they know how to push the pace, so I think those would be really exciting matches as well.
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