Danielle Kelly shares what she had to go through to get to this point in her career

American grappling star Danielle Kelly has accomplished a lot throughout her young career—and she recently shared what she has had to go through to get to this point.

The 27-year-old is rapidly becoming one of the faces of women's jiu-jitsu under ONE Championship. Kelly has picked up back-to-back wins over Mariia Molchanova and Ayaka Miura after scoring a draw in her promotional debut.

Danielle Kelly is a two-time performance bonus winner under ONE's banner, and she could be in line for a women's submission grappling world title shot when the promotion finally introduces one.

"Negative words. Doubters. Little to no family support. No parents. Sleepless nights. Seeing my mom struggle to help with jiu jitsu fees as a teen. Wasn’t spoon fed. It’s these moments that are worth it. I am a product of never giving up. And grateful I get to compete and teach all over the world now, it still surprises me😅🥲 Keep your head up and work hard."

---

Danielle Kelly speaks on making history at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video

The New Jersey native made history at ONE Fight Night 7, becoming the first woman to compete in the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. Kelly spoke on that in an interview with the South China Morning Post, saying:

“Yeah, I was just saying too, even being the first women's grappling match in ONE Championship back in March, that was a big stepping stone for me, like, a big accomplishment in my grappling career. And being that, I can be that girl to push forward women's jiu-jitsu and just promote grappling on the stage as well as the guys are doing now, like Kade [Ruotolo] and Mikey [Musumeci].”

Kelly continues to etch her name into ONE Championship's history books. The grappling star is looking to become the face of women's jiu-jitsu—and she's well on her way.

Check out the grappling ace's full conversation with SCMP MMA below: