I just found that I really liked it

Some fighters spend years finding their calling. That wasn’t the case for 18-year-old ground game machine Helena Crevar, though.

The teenage sensation makes her ONE Championship debut against Teshya Noelani Alo in a women’s bantamweight submission grappling bout at ONE Fight Night 39 on Friday, Jan. 23, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.

But her journey to the world’s largest martial arts organization started with a single training session that changed everything. In an interview with ONE, Crevar explained how quickly Brazilian jiu-jitsu captured her attention as a kid.

“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,” Helena Crevar shared.

She added: “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, and I already wanted to compete in it.”

Crevar went from first class to wanting competition in under three months—that kind of immediate drive shows someone who found exactly what they were meant to do.

Helena Crevar is thrilled to debut in ONE Championship

In the same interview with the promotion, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who received her promotion from legendary coach John Danaher last year, revealed that she’s stoked to put on the rashguard for her promotional bow.

Helena Crevar shared that she’s been a huge fan of the promotion, and watching her teammates compete inside the Circle has only added extra motivation.

“I’ve been watching ONE for a few years now, and I watched my teammates Garry [Tonon] and Giancarlo [Bodoni] compete on it as well,” the Las Vegas native shared.

ONE Fight Night 39 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers, live in U.S. primetime, for free on Friday, Jan. 23.