Danielle Kelly is fully focused on jiu-jitsu career: “I’m not pressured to do MMA right now”

American grappler Danielle Kelly believes there’s more work to be done in women’s jiu-jitsu before she tackles MMA full time.

Kelly has all the elements to become a full-fledged MMA fighter. She’s got the mental toughness, discipline and a pre-existing background in training in mixed martial arts. However, that eventual transition into MMA is becoming a little more elusive by the day, with Kelly hitting strides financially with submission grappling at ONE Championship.

Although Kelly is open to the idea, she doesn’t necessarily feel pressured to take on a new combat sport, especially when her career is at an all-time high.

At the post-event interviews at ONE Fight Night 7, she elaborated:

“I've been just focusing on jiu-jitsu. I'm not pressured to do MMA right now. I think I want to accomplish something in jiu-jitsu first, put my name out there, and then I'll talk to my team and coaches whenever I want to fight, but right now, it's just jiu-jitsu.”

The Philadelphia star is well on her way to becoming a world-wide jiu-jitsu sensation. She is undefeated in ONE Championship and has major wins over high-profile grapplers such as Cynthia Calvillo and Carla Esparza before she joined the promotion in February 2022.

Keen on improving her resume, Kelly has one jiu-jitsu artist in mind who has the ability to make her next submission grappling match an exciting one: multiple-time BJJ world champion Jessa Khan.

If ONE Championship can get Khan started with a couple of good matches this year, she might be the right person to face Danielle Kelly for the inaugural women’s atomweight belt in submission grappling on US soil.

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Danielle Kelly believes competing inside the ring for the first time wasn’t a drawback at ONE Fight Night 7

Danielle Kelly said competing inside a boxing ring for the first time wasn’t a drawback at all.

Last Friday, at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II, Danielle Kelly and Ayaka Miura clashed in a catchweight submission grappling bout on February 24 inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand.

Both women utilized the space very well considering they had to be dragged back into the center multiple times after getting entangled against the ropes. But according to Kelly, the ring didn’t have its drawbacks despite appearances.

In the same interview, she explained:

“I think the ring kinda of helped, cause it was kinda bouncy. And whenever like she would give me position and I would go against the ring, I kinda just kept pushing my weight to the ring so I can try to get her back or a better position on her, but I know she’s competed in the ring before, once or twice, so I knew she had that experience over me.”

Kelly scored another home run last Friday despite the change in venue, winning by unanimous decision after 10 minutes of intense action.