Danielle Kelly has always wanted to break the mold, even as a kid

Danielle Kelly has had to go against what people have told her in order to get to this stage in her career. The submission grappler has stayed focused on becoming a better competitor over the years and it has led her right to the forefront of the sport.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Kelly revealed how even her own mother would question her motivation and what she hoped to achieve by competing in grappling.

It’s fair to say that at this point in her career, the 27-year old is reaping the rewards of her dedication and making her family proud.

She told ONE:

“During that time my mom would come to my tournaments and support me sometimes but it would always be like, ‘Danielle I don’t know why you keep doing this? It’s not gonna help your future. You need to stay in school, you need a real job. That’s what everyone was doing.’ And she’s not wrong for that.”

At ONE on Prime Video 4, the rising superstar picked up her first submission win under the ONE Championship banner. After going to a draw on her debut, Danielle Kelly was determined to get the tap and she did just that against Mariia Molchanova.

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Danielle Kelly relishes opportunity to compete outside the U.S.

Danielle Kelly recently sat down with the promotion to talk about her 2022 and reflect on the year she had inside the circle.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt made her promotional debut at ONE X in March. Whilst her dominant performance earned her a $50,000 bonus from Chatri Sityodtong, Kelly was unable to cap off her performance with a submission.

On top of competing in submission grappling on a platform like ONE, Kelly has loved the opportunity to travel the world and take in new cultures by competing in Asia.

She told ONE:

“’m really thankful to meet a lot of different people, to train with a lot of different people. Getting to travel, even though it’s like 20-plus hours of like traveling there and back to the U.S., that was new."

She added:

“It’s all about the experience so I’m really thankful for those.”

Danielle Kelly made her triumphant return to the circle in November, dispatching sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova in just over two munutes. After making quick work of her Russian opponent, Kelly already has her first match of 2023 lined up.

At ONE on Prime Video 7, Kelly will face Ayaka ‘Zombie’ Miura, an 11-4 mixed martial artist with a 100% finish rate under the ONE Championship banner.