Danielle Kelly says winning a world title in ONE Championship would draw huge attention to women’s jiu-jitsu

American grappler Danielle Kelly is not just competing in jiu-jitsu for herself. The 26-year-old feels that she is competing for the relevancy of women's jiu-jitsu.

Kelly wants ONE gold in submission grappling because she believes it will be beneficial to the sport overall. She explained this while speaking to The MMA Superfan in an interview:

"I think it would be like the biggest platform, it would draw a lot of attention to women’s jiu-jitsu in the world."

Danielle Kelly impressed martial arts fans when she faced Japanese MMA veteran Mei Yamaguchi earlier this year at ONE X. Despite the match ending in a draw, her entertaining style was enough for Kelly to earn a $50,000 performance bonus.

At ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18 (US primetime), Danielle Kelly will take part in her next submission grappling match against Mariia Molchanova. Molchanova will be a stiff test for the jiu-jitsu black belt as the Russian will bring experience as a multi-time sambo world champion.

Catch the full interview below:

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Danielle Kelly discusses sambo vs. BJJ

American jiu-jitsu ace Danielle Kelly has previously discussed the rivalry between her chosen discipline and Russian sambo. While Kelly is a jiu-jitsu black belt, she still has experience in competing under sambo rules. In an interview with ONE Championship, Kelly said:

“I competed in a few sambo tournaments. So the rules are kind of weird, but I think when I was starting to do sambo tournaments, I was focused on the leg locking because I want to just work on that when it started to become popular. I feel like they get a submission or they get an arm or leg on you, you would have to be really intelligent and actually know what you’re doing when you’re trying to get out of [the] submission. We can’t just let them take an arm or a leg, or they’re going to break it.”

The 26-year-old American will get a chance to prove which martial art is superior when she faces an accomplished sambo veteran at ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18. Kelly announced the match on Instagram:

"Finally can announce my next match will be against a decorated sambo opponent November 18th on @amazonprime @onechampionship . If you guys want to see good jiu jitsu and a quick submission make sure you watch this match."