Danielle Kelly felt "really good" to inspire kids at her old school to practice martial arts

Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Danielle Kelly is having a very positive influence on the sport. The American grappler has inspired young folks to join and begin rolling in the same place where she started her journey.

Today, the 26-year-old is well known in the grappling community, having competed in ONE Championship, the ADCC, EBI, and other organizations. However, she had humble beginnings.

Danielle Kelly recently visited the school where it all began. Here, she got a lovely message from the parents of the students. Her success has influenced others to begin competing in the sport.

In an interview with ONE, she said:

“The old school I went to actually, the parents told me that their sons and daughters, I inspired them to try the sport out. A lot of them stuck with it, and they saw me doing it."

The jiu-jitsu ace explained that it was extremely gratifying to hear this:

“So, you know, I felt really good to see that kids were watching me or they were willing to try something because of me, which I’m not taking credit away from their parents, but you know, it’s pretty cool to hear that.”

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Danielle Kelly calls out Angela Lee

ONE women's atomweight world champion Angela Lee was recently called out by Danielle Kelly. At the ONE Championship x Amazon Prime joint press conference in Los Angeles in July, Kelly said she would rather focus on real grapplers, as opposed to facing Angela Lee.

On potentially meeting Lee, Danielle Kelly said:

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I’m a jiu-jitsu person so I’ve been focused on legit grapplers, but if they want to give me that match, I’ll take it in a heartbeat.”

Angela Lee responded while speaking with Thiccc Boy Studios:

“Honestly this whole thing about [Danielle] Kelly and how she was at the press con, and seeing her over the past few days, she seems like she’s a little bit so into herself, right? I don’t got time for that, honestly. I’m focused on the big fights right now."

Angela Lee has a major fight ahead of her. After defending her atomweight title in five bouts, she will be moving up in weight to try and capture a second world championship. Standing in her way is an old adversary, the ONE women's strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan. The two will have the final bout in their trilogy headlining ONE on Prime Video 2 on September 30.