ONE on Prime Video 4: Danielle Kelly taps out Mariia Molchanova with rear-naked choke

Danielle Kelly delivered on her promise to continue Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s dominance over sambo by beating Mariia Molchanova.

The 26-year-old American submitted her Russian foe with a rear-naked choke in their women’s atomweight submission grappling match in the lead card of ONE on Prime Video 4 on Friday, November 18.

Kelly, who was coming off a sensational performance against Mei Yamaguchi in her ONE debut, made good on her promise to hunt for a submission right away.

Molchanova tried to impose her sambo attacks early by clamping on Kelly’s neck area for a can-opener. The 26-year-old American pulled guard and went to work.

She quickly slithered her way to the Russian’s back and performed a slick body triangle to keep her opponent in place.

It was the beginning of the end for Molchanova, as Danielle Kelly ruthlessly went for a rear-naked choke. The 34-year-old staved off danger at first but was only prolonging the inevitable.

Molchanova stood up to alleviate some pressure, but it only made Kelly’s squeeze tighter. The finish came at the 2:15 mark of the 10-minute match.

After the fight, an elated Kelly talked about her performance with Mitch Chilson:

“I used to do Sambo so I had an idea that she was going to do a can-opener or really good leg lock exchanges. She pulled me into closed guard and held my head really hard. From that transition, I was able to push her a little bit and took her back.”

Furthermore, Kelly also collected her second straight $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

Following Danielle Kelly’s victory, BJJ is now 3-0 over sambo in their most recent head-to-head submission grappling matchups in ONE.

She joins ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo and Rodrigo Marello in the winner’s circle, who beat Russia’s Uali Kurzhev and Ruslan Bagdasarian, respectively earlier this year.

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Danielle Kelly breaks down her beautiful rear-naked choke finish

After failing to finish Mei Yamaguchi in her debut match, Kelly vowed to silence her doubters with a decisive finish against Mariia Molchanova. She did just that and told Mitch Chilson all about it in her post-fight interview.

The Silver Fox BJJ standout explained:

“I’ve been working on my biceps a little bit. So I just kept squeezing till she tapped. My coach at home was always telling me that when going for a rear naked choke, always squeeze your elbows together. I finally got a submission at the ONE stage!”

Danielle Kelly even called-out Angela Lee as she made her way back to the locker room.