Danielle Kelly on what’s most important for her in her career

Submission grappler Danielle Kelly is part of a new breed in ONE Championship. Through the promotion’s expansion into submission grappling, some of the biggest stars in the sport have joined the roster.

With the opportunity to compete under the biggest and brightest lights alongside world class competitors from various disciplines, submission grappling has never had a platform like this before. 27-year-old Kelly is one of the key figures that is helping to establish ONE as the new home of the sport, specifically representing the female side of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Through her performances inside the Circle, she is making new ground in the promotion and creating a path for other competitors to follow. Whilst she has dreams of competing for a world championship, Danielle Kelly says that the main targets in her career are not physical achievements.

In an interview with SCMP MMA, she said:

"I just want to be a good role model and I just do what I love and put on a good show for everybody."

Watch the full interview below:

Danielle Kelly will return to face Ayaka Miura at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 24th. The entire event is live and free to watch for North American audiences with an active Prime subscription.

---

“I can't scrub her off too fast” - Danielle Kelly expects Ayaka Miura to be hard to submit

Danielle Kelly knows better than to not underestimate any of her opponents in ONE Championship, but she can still learn from her previous contests. At ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video in Bangkok, Kelly will face Japan’s Ayaka Miura in her third appearance under the ONE banner.

After going to a draw with Mei Yamaguchi on her debut, Kelly picked up her first submission win inside the Circle last time out against Mariia Molchanova. Learning from previous experience, she expects her next opponent to be difficult to submit and knows that she cannot go into the match expecting to get a tap.

In the same interview with the South China Morning Post, Danielle Kelly spoke about the similarities between Ayaka Miura and a previous opponent of hers:

“I think if Ayaka wants to play Mei’s game, I think I've also [made] adjustments from the first match. But I think just for a little bit, if I'm in a bad position, I think she'll be tough to, I can't scrub her off too fast or get her off me. But yeah, I think it'll be pretty similar. I know they're working with the same person. [Masakazu] Imanari, I think his name is. I think just getting that experience was a pretty good warm-up for me.”

Miura comes into this submission grappling contest having competed mostly in MMA. Her judo background has given her an advantage over many of her opponents inside the circle and has been able to get a submission in six of eleven pro bouts.

With her opponents credentials, Kelly knows she will need to be patient and use the lessons that she learned against Yamaguchi where she was unable to submit her despite dominating the contest.