“I had to defend myself a few times” - Danielle Kelly reveals she was bullied many times in school growing up

No one would have known that Danielle Kelly was once bullied in school if they are only looking at her accomplishments in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world.

The ONE atomweight submission grappling queen, who will face Mayssa Bastos in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 24, was exposed to bullies when she was still in elementary school.

But Kelly survived, as those incidents became one of the reasons she learned how to defend herself through wrestling and BJJ.

Looking back at those days, the 28-year-old told ONE Championship that she had been involved in several fights in school, where she had to fight the bullies who scolded her.

Kelly said:

"I was in, like, three or four fights in my lifetime. Like, my first time was when I was a new kid. I was in sixth grade. And then the second time was in eighth grade, and then the third time was when I was new at the other school, and I was a junior and the other girl was a senior."

"Yeah. So I had to defend myself a few times," she added.

Now, the atomweight queen will have to defend her title against top contender Mayssa Bastos on August 2.

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Danielle Kelly makes her first title defense at ONE Fight Night 24 against Mayssa Bastos

ONE women's atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly is ready to defend her title against Brazilian veteran Mayssa Bastos.

They will duke it out in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart on Prime Video, which will be broadcast live from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, August 2 in U.S. primetime.

All fans in the United States and Canada can catch the full event live and free of charge with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.