“I clicked it like right away” - Danielle Kelly recalls grappling with boys as a kid igniting her love for BJJ

Danielle Kelly always knew that Brazilian jiu-jitsu would be her life’s passion, and she found the catalyst for that love when she began training at an early age.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt started her love for the sport during her childhood, and it was during her rolls against boys that practically lit up the fire that’s still burning inside her.

Kelly will need to add more fuel to that ember, though, when she faces old rival Jessa Khan for the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world title at ONE Fight Night 14.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Kelly revealed that she didn’t have girls her age to train with during her first classes. Instead of waiting for new classmates, Kelly did what she had to do and trained with the boys in her age group.

She said:

“I tried my first jiu-jitsu class … there was another girl too, but she was a few years younger than me, so I couldn’t really go against her. So I went against the boys, and my coach at the time just figured it was a good idea to show me a few moves, and I clicked it like right away.”

That change in training partners eventually pushed Kelly to find tougher challenges, a mentality that she’s carried throughout her professional career.

The American star was one of the most sought-after grapplers in 2022 after securing high-profile wins over Cynthia Calvillo, Roxanne Modafferi, and former two-time UFC women’s strawweight world champion Carla Esparza.

Since moving to ONE Championship, Kelly kept an undefeated run and had two wins over Sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova and former women’s atomweight MMA world title contender Mei Yamaguchi.

ONE Fight Night 14 goes down on September 29, US primetime, at Singapore Indoor Stadium. Prime Video subscribers in North America can stream the entire card live and for free.