Danielle Kelly didn’t have the slightest idea about BJJ on her first day on the mats: “I thought it was karate”

At ONE Fight Night 14, Danielle Kelly reaped the rewards of dedicating her life to the sport that she fell in love with a long time ago.

Since signing with ONE Championship, the American athlete has established herself as one of the key competitors on the promotion’s submission grappling roster.

Despite everything that she had already accomplished in her career, the 27-year-old has been working towards one specific goal that she finally made a reality at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Defeating Jessa Khan in a rematch two years on from their first meeting, Kelly was crowned as the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion. The Silver Fox BJJ student had a point to prove and a chip on her shoulder after being counted out due to the fact she was yet to win world championship honours.

Clearing that hurdle in impressive fashion, she then took the opportunity to reflect on her career and how this journey started with the first few steps before reaching the top in ONE Championship.

In an appearance on the Chewjitsu Podcast, Danielle Kelly revealed that in her first time on the mats, she had no idea what to expect, having gotten it confused with a different martial art.

The rest, as they say, is history, with Kelly falling in love with jiu-jitsu and dedicating her life to it:

“My coach explained like what was jiu-jitsu, so I thought like I was gonna go in there and do striking because I thought it was karate, I was like what's that? So my first drill was like a single-leg takedown when I pulled full guard. I learned the very basic things that first like hour-and-a-half. So it's crazy because I still use the first thing I learned from the very first day of jiu-jitsu.”

Watch the full interview below:

North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 14 via the free event replay.