Watch: ONE grappling phenom Danielle Kelly drops male fighter with a head kick in throwback video

ONE Championship grappling savant Danielle Kelly never ceases to amaze or surprise us. Who knew that the world-renowned jiu-jitsu athlete was once a dangerous Karateka who could knock someone down with a swift kick to the head?

In a throwback video Kelly uploaded on Instagram account, the dashing grappler was seen throwing a high kick at a male sparring partner during a kickboxing spar. The impact of the kick made a thudding sound as it connected to the man's temple, immediately knocking him down:

"I still have my karate roots when I did some classes before BJJ as a kid😂😅 this was around 2020, my cool training partner @_ocot was ok 🦵🏼 @mk_muay_thai_nj"

That head kick would make Mirko Cro Cop proud. What it lacked in the set-up and technique, it made up for with power and speed. Seriously, the guy she hit it with dropped like a sack of potatoes and got up in utter disbelief.

It must be noted that the clip was taken in 2020, just two years ago. Danielle Kelly was already a jiu-jitsu black belt back then. If a grappler like her can throw a kick like that and drop a much larger man, imagine what she could do in an MMA fight.

Kelly has expressed in the past that she plans on transitioning to MMA while signed to ONE. If this was any indication of what that would be like, well, the strawweight division should be paying attention.

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Danielle Kelly has burst into the mainstream consciousness after her ONE debut

Danielle Kelly has been blowing up MMA and grappling media after her impressive ONE Championship debut against Mei Yamaguchi at ONE X in March.

Even though their submission grappling match ended in a draw, Kelly was awarded a $50,000 performance bonus by ONE for her marvelous effort throughout the match.

Since her fateful debut, Kelly has received an avalanche of messages and comments from fans, critics and fighters alike. The messages were a mix of congratulations, words of support and the occasional callouts.

The 26-year old grappler, however, understands that the newfound attention she's getting will attract both positive and negative energy from the masses. Despite this, Kelly welcomes all comers.

In a YouTube interview with MMA Mania, Danielle Kelly said:

“I mean it’s pretty fun because if you’re not being called out, then no one cares about you. No one’s paying attention to you or anything. It’s more motivation. It’s mostly like trolls, I wouldn’t say it’s like anyone. I did have a call out but she fights at 125 so it doesn’t make sense, you’re just trying to be cool.”

Watch the full interview here: