Craig Jones has just revealed that the first female competitor in the CJI 2 lineup will be none other than the teenage prodigy Helena Crevar. While Crevar has been on the radar as one of the top prospects in the sport for quite some time now, it was only last year that she completed her journey to the highest level. Despite still being at such a young age, she earned a place in a division featuring the very best women in the world by winning ADCC West Coast Trials at the beginning of the year. That was already a remarkable achievement, but the year only got better for her after that.
Crevar won a silver medal at ADCC 2024, becoming the youngest person ever to stand on the podium at the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling event. She claimed a piece of history with that performance but also established that she belongs in major events like that already. She also became the inaugural lightweight world champion at Polaris 28 around the same time, and she’s since successfully defended the belt as well. She hasn’t even slowed down since then either and she started 2025 in pretty much the same fashion, claiming the Who’s Number One featherweight title with a win over Elisabeth Clay at WNO 27.
She also got promoted to black belt by John Danaher and is currently preparing for yet another massive opportunity, as she is set to be the team captain for North America in the upcoming first Polaris Female Squads event. It’s been an incredibly busy time over the last 18 months for Helena Crevar but being able to build on that success with consistent excellent performances is undoubtedly a big part of why she’s now been invited to CJI 2. With the biggest prize in female Jiu-Jitsu history on the line, winning that four-woman bracket will be another incredible accomplishment in her young career.
The Craig Jones Invitational announced the news that Helena Crevar would be the first competitor in the female tournament in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
