“Maybe an MMA fight at the end of the year” - Danielle Kelly open to possible mixed martial arts debut in late 2022

Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Danielle Kelly is nearing her MMA debut, and it might be sooner rather than later.

The 26-year-old signed with ONE Championship earlier this year as part of the promotion’s drive to put more shine on submission grappling. However, the American has also expressed her desire to transition to MMA eventually, following in the footsteps of fellow grapplers and ONE athletes like Garry Tonon and Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

At ONE X, the promotion’s 10-year anniversary showcase, Kelly showed why she is a star in her sport with an incredible performance against former ONE women’s atomweight world title challenger Mei Yamaguchi in a submission grappling contest. While their match was declared a draw, the Philadelphia native was awarded a US$50,000 bonus for controlling most of the bout.

Now that she has showcased what she can do in submission grappling, is there a chance that we’ll see Danielle Kelly in an MMA match this year?

Speaking to SCMP MMA, Kelly said she’s definitely thinking about making the transition, and she is getting pretty close.

“I would like to have two matches, jiu-jitsu, but I mean, you know it's only, it's actually August. I was going to say like, maybe an MMA fight at the end of the year before the year ends. But you know, it just depends on my corner. Like, I want everyone there, so I'll just say, for now, two jiu-jitsu matches.”

Catch the full interview below:

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Danielle Kelly and Angela Lee's beef is heating up

While Danielle Kelly mulls a move to MMA, her confidence in her grappling abilities has riled up ONE women’s atomweight world champion Angela Lee.

During a recent press conference attended by both ladies, Kelly was asked about a potential submission grappling bout with Lee. The American responded by saying she’s focused on "legit grapplers" at the moment, which irked the atomweight queen a bit.

It has since boiled over to a little back-and-forth in interviews, which Kelly said she is kind of juvenile. During her interview with SCMP MMA, she said:

“So it's kind of like, this is like high school, you know. You got mad at me speaking the truth, you know. But then, I'm kind of embracing it. Like, it is fun. It's free. It's just motivating because people just don't seem to take me seriously. Neither does she. I mean, in a way, she kind of insulted me for saying that she would be able to submit me or something, whatever. Like, I mean, if you're that competent, you would start making moves on a match, you know. Like, call me out or something, or she kind of did, I guess, but now you're going to backpedal and say, I guess, special rules, or I guess MMA.”