Danielle Kelly reminisces about fighting in the Gi

The 2023 IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu World Championships this year is giving Danielle Kelly the feels as she reminisces about her time fighting in the Gi.

As of this writing, the IBJJF Worlds is entering its final day of competition. It’s been an exhilarating week for all participants involved as they compete against each other at the highest levels.

Thus far, only the purple belt winners have been announced in both the female and male categories. Up next, are the final matchups for the black belts, which Danielle Kelly will watch with great anticipation.

On Monday, she reminisced about her time competing under the Gi and the honor she felt in wearing the traditional garment after getting her black belt. Sharing video footage of her last Gi competition, she said:

“In honor of gi worlds, I’ve actually competed in the gi at one point 🥴 my first tournament as a black belt, it was only right to get black belt gi matches in after getting my black belt. Then the lockdown happened weeks after.”

As popular and as accomplished as Danielle Kelly is in the jiu-jitsu world, she has never officially competed for gold at the IBJJF World Championships.

As she stated earlier, the pandemic was a significant disruption in her early career. However, if it hadn’t played out the way it did, perhaps she wouldn’t have been introduced to one of the biggest sports platforms in the world.

Thus far, Kelly has done an incredible job on being the first-ever women’s jiu-jitsu grappler in ONE Championship. In the last two years, she’s fought big names in the promotion, battling to a draw against Mei Yamaguchi and defeating both Mariia Molchanova and Ayaka Miura.

Sensing that a world title is imminent, Kelly is looking forward to fighting for gold against a fellow jiu-jitsu black belt. Some of the names that have been thrown around have been IBJJF gold medalists and former rivals to Danielle Kelly - Jessica Khan and Tammi Musumeci.

It remains to be seen when Kelly’s next fight will be. Stay informed with Sportskeeda MMA for any upcoming fight announcements.