Athlete Bio: Ethan Crelinsten

Ethan Crelinsten is a Canadian-born Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, submission grappling competitor, and founding member of the infamous B-Team, which is now Simple Man Martial Arts gym in Austin, Texas. He is a two-time North American ADCC Trials winner, a Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, and the current Polaris Lightweight Champion.

As well, he won ADCC Trials in back-to-back years as a coloured belt. He beat already-established black belt professionals both times, years before he ever earned a black belt of his own. Before any of his successes, he was just a Montreal teen without any combat sports experience, and he almost became an MMA fighter instead.

Without a Sports Background

Crelinsten was born in Montreal in May 1994. He’s stated that his teenage years mostly consisted of just hanging around, and he barely had any sports experience except when he was young. That all changed when he was 19 years old, experiencing the rise of MMA in Canada. He started wrestling and striking, training to get a chance in the cage. The guys in the gym told him he needed to start with jiu-jitsu first, so he wouldn’t get submitted.

First Steps on the Mat

His first jiu-jitsu training was driven purely by necessity and had nothing to do with an interest in the sport. He wanted to learn just enough so he could get better at MMA. Then a purple belt beat him for 20 minutes straight. Instead of getting discouraged, it made him realize the holes in his play and made him take the summer off school and do nothing but jiu-jitsu.

Then it all changed when he entered a tournament that same summer, and he actually won it despite being very new. The summer turned into a year off. The year turned into a career.

TriStar Gym

He joined Firas Zahabi's TriStar Gym located in Montreal, Canada. Quickly he became a top competitor in the Canadian circuits. Zahabi personally promoted him through every belt from white to brown. Crelinsten felt comfortable where he was at and had no desire to look outwards, at least for now.

Then Gordon Showed Up

The taste for more was fuelled by a Tristar athlete bringing a young Gordon Ryan up to Montreal to train for an MMA match. Ryan stayed for around a week, and as Crelinsten put it best, “kicked all of our asses.” What truly struck him was that Ryan wasn’t winning by pure strength; it was that his jiu-jitsu was much more technical, leaving everyone in that room in the dust.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was a similar experience. Except instead of Ryan it was Eddie Cummings, who had a very good understanding of leg-lock sequences. Crelinsten wanted to know more, and he needed to go to the source.

Going to the Source

After both of those encounters, he decided to go to Renzo Gracie Academy. Here he became one of the most recognizable faces of the Danaher Death Squad. He spent the next few years bouncing between John Danaher in New York and Zahabi in Montreal; the vast majority of his training came from these two.

The Blue Basement

When the world shut down for COVID in 2020, Renzo’s in New York was hit as well, leaving the nicknamed Blue Basement empty overnight. For around a month, all of Crelinsten’s training came from Danaher’s coaching and some of the best grapplers on the planet: Nikki Rod, Gordon Ryan, and Craig Jones.

This stretch during COVID was brutal, considering how much more skilled his opponents were. But, he came out the other side significantly stronger. He says there was nothing else in all his years of training that kept him that sharp.

Famous Before His Black Belt

He had already made a name for himself before he was given a black belt. He won the North American ADCC Trials in both 2017 and 2018, beating established professionals while still a colored belt. His results were strong enough that BJJ Heroes gave him a full profile before he'd even reached black belt, the first athlete the site ever did that for.

Hunting Knives

John Danaher promoted him to black belt in November 2020, alongside Nicky Ryan, marking the occasion by giving each of them a hunting knife. Gordon Ryan, who had trained alongside both of them in that room for years, said afterward that he finally didn't have to feel bad about training hard with them anymore. The pair had gone from tough kids to legitimate world beaters.

He Built His Own Team

The group moved to Puerto Rico next. When it eventually split, Crelinsten didn't join someone else's room, he founded B-Team in Austin alongside his teammates instead. B-Team has since rebranded as Simple Man Martial Arts, opening the gym to all skill levels and adding a kids' program. A shift Crelinsten has described as partly about creating distance from Craig Jones' personal brand and partly just good business. He now teaches evening classes there himself.

Becoming a Champion

He won the Combat Jiu-Jitsu World Championship at lightweight in 2022. This is a format that adds open-handed striking once your opponent is on the ground. He currently holds the Polaris Lightweight Championship, having defended the belt at Polaris 36 in March, which he won by submitting Shai Gerena in the first round.

His game is built around a single idea: Lock in a body triangle before attempting any chokes. If you can do that, he said, “you can almost do whatever you want at that point.” his system traces back to what he first picked up with Gordon Ryan at Renzo’s.

Modern Day Ethan Crelinsten

As of 2026, Crelinsten is 32 and holds the Polaris Lightweight Championship. Successfully defending at Polaris 36 with a first-round rear-naked choke over Shai Gerena. He still trains and coaches at Simple Man Martial Arts, the Austin gym he helped found. Splitting his week between jiu-jitsu, dedicated strength work on his squat, bench, and deadlift, and a deliberate rebuild of his wrestling . An area he's only trained seriously for the last couple of years relative to the rest of his career. He still co-hosts the Simple Man Podcast with training partners Nikki Rod and Damian. His stated goals haven't moved in years: win ADCC, win CJI.

A Montreal kid who wanted to be a cage fighter and got told to learn jiu-jitsu first. A colored belt who beat black belts at ADCC Trials before he'd ever earned one of his own. A guy who spent a month straight training against three men who each outweighed him by fifty pounds just to get ready for a tournament. Whatever's next, he's already shown he'll just build his way through it.