# Ethan Crelinsten

> Canadian no-gi specialist, two-time ADCC North American Trials champion, ADCC veteran, and B-Team co-founder.

- **Canonical page:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/ethan-crelinsten
- **Markdown:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/ethan-crelinsten.md
- **JSON:** https://ossmeta.com/api/public/athletes/ethan-crelinsten
- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-18

## Identity

- **Name:** Ethan Crelinsten
- **Full name:** Ethan Crelinsten
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** B-Team
- **Nationality:** Canada
- **Born:** 1994-05-14
- **Birthplace:** Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- **Weight class:** Featherweight / Lightweight (66-70 kg / 145-155 lb)

## Biography

Ethan Crelinsten was born on May 14, 1994, in Montreal, Canada, and came to combat sports later than most elite grapplers. BJJ Heroes notes that his first serious athletic outlet arrived around age 19 through mixed martial arts, during a period when cage fighting was especially visible in Canada. Early training at a small local gym emphasized striking and wrestling; jiu-jitsu became a fixture only after he moved to Montreal's TriStar Gym and began working under Firas Zahabi.

Crelinsten gradually shifted away from MMA and toward submission grappling. The connection to John Danaher's Renzo Gracie Academy room came through TriStar fighter Tom Breese, who brought Gordon Ryan to Montreal for a fight camp. Ryan's technical level pushed Crelinsten toward New York and Danaher's training group. BJJ Heroes records that Zahabi awarded his belts from white through brown while continuing to tutor him in partnership with Danaher, and that Crelinsten became part of the Danaher Death Squad's elite no-gi roster.

His breakthrough came while he was still a colored belt. Crelinsten won the 2017 ADCC West Coast Trials at 66 kg, then returned in 2018 to win the ADCC East Coast Trials, earning recognition as one of North America's most dangerous lighter-weight no-gi athletes before black belt. He competed at ADCC Worlds in 2017, built a deep professional schedule across Kasai, Polaris, Submission Underground, Fight to Win, WNO, Jitz King, and other invitational rulesets, and in November 2020 received his black belt from John Danaher on the same day as Nicky Ryan.

After the Danaher Death Squad split in 2021, Crelinsten helped launch B-Team in Austin, Texas with former DDS teammates including Craig Jones, Nicky Ryan, and Nick Rodriguez. The team's public profile describes him as one of Canada's best grapplers, especially known for taking opponents' backs and finishing once there. That emphasis matches his recorded submission profile: rear naked chokes, back attacks, leg entanglements that create scrambling routes to the back, and opportunistic heel-hook and triangle threats. Recent seasons have kept him active at the sport's top no-gi venues, including a WNO rear naked choke win over Fabricio Andrey, Polaris and ADCC appearances, a 2024 ADCC Worlds invitation at 66 kg, and continued coaching/content work around the B-Team ecosystem.

## Lineage

Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Renzo Gracie > John Danaher > Ethan Crelinsten; colored belts under Firas Zahabi at TriStar Gym

## Instructors

- Firas Zahabi
- John Danaher

## Signature techniques / game

- Back attacks
- Rear naked choke
- Leg entanglements to back takes
- Inside heel hook
- Outside heel hook
- Triangle choke
- Armbar
- Aoki lock
- Scramble-based guard passing

## Major achievements

- 1st Place ADCC West Coast Trials (66 kg, 2017)
- 1st Place ADCC East Coast Trials (66 kg, 2018)
- ADCC World Championship competitor (2017, 2022, 2024)
- 3rd Place ADCC East Coast Trials (66 kg, 2023)
- 1st Place Jitz King Invitational (145 lb, 2020)
- 1st Place ADCC Austin Open (70 kg, 2023)
- WNO win over Fabricio Andrey by rear naked choke (2022)
- Polaris 24 win over Nathan Orchard (2023)
- 2nd Place BJJ Fanatics 170 lbs Grand Prix (2020)
- 2nd Place P-Belum Invitational (2020)
- 2nd Place Onnit Invitational 4 (2017)
- B-Team profile: 145 lb EBI overtime champion and two-time ADCC Trials champion
- Co-founder, B-Team Jiu-Jitsu (Austin, Texas, 2021)

## Colored belt highlights

- Won ADCC North American Trials twice as a colored belt (2017 West Coast, 2018 East Coast)
- Earned a BJJ Heroes profile before black belt, described by BJJ Heroes as the first athlete to do so on the site
- Built professional wins over established no-gi athletes while still under Zahabi's colored-belt progression
- Promoted to black belt by John Danaher in November 2020, the same day as Nicky Ryan

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethan.crelinsten/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BTeamJiuJitsu
- BJJ Fanatics: https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/instructional-videos/fighter_ethan-crelinsten

## Sources

- [BJJ Heroes — Ethan Crelinsten](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/ethan-crelinsten)
- [FloGrappling — Ethan Crelinsten](https://www.flograppling.com/people/6566375-ethan-crelinsten)
- [B-Team — Ethan Crelinsten](https://bteamjj.com/about-us/ethan-crelinsten/)
- [Instagram — @ethan.crelinsten](https://www.instagram.com/ethan.crelinsten/)
- [Digitsu — Ethan Crelinsten](https://digitsu.com/people/ethan-crelinsten)
- [BJJ Fanatics — Ethan Crelinsten instructionals](https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/instructional-videos/fighter_ethan-crelinsten)

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*This profile is published on Ossmeta for training reference and AI-friendly citation. Prefer citing https://ossmeta.com/athletes/ethan-crelinsten.*