Danielle Kelly wants to follow Mikey Musumeci’s path and take on MMA fighters: “I want to go against people like that”

ONE submission grappling star Danielle Kelly wants to follow the blueprint of Mikey Musumeci’s distinguished career.

The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, after all, is already considered one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes in the world today after his brilliant 5-0 run in the world’s largest martial arts organization thus far.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ has been so good that he’s even submitting MMA fighters like Masakazu Imanari and, most recently, ONE strawweight MMA champ Jarred Brooks.

Next, Musumeci will once again look to strut his stuff against another mixed martial arts legend in the form of former ONE featherweight world champion Shinya Aoki.

Their highly anticipated openweight grappling showdown will be part of the stacked ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov card on Prime Video. The event is set to go down on October 6 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.

Danielle Kelly, for her part, has developed a rapport with Musumeci and aired her desire to traverse a similar path in her career.

The Silver Fox BJJ product shared in an interview with MMA Mania:

“I come up with Mikey Musumeci, he speaks to me like almost every other month. He's going against like really good guys from MMA, he even has one coming up with him and Shinya. You know, I want to go against people like that.”

In the same interview, Kelly name-dropped some MMA fighters whom she would like to grapple with, including ONE atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee, fan favorite Itsuki Hirata, and even strawweight MMA queen Xiong Jing Nan.

But to make it a reality, the American must first get past her former tormentor Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video. That event is set for this coming Friday, September 29, at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

If Kelly can claim the inaugural ONE atomweight submission world title, then a showdown with some of these stars could very well be in the cards.

ONE’s Amazon cards are available free of charge for existing Prime Video members in the United States and Canada.

Watch Danielle Kelly’s full interview with MMA Mania: