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Danielle Kelly opened up about her experience being a ring girl.
Over the last two years, Kelly has become a massive superstar in the submission grappling landscape. Yet, there was a time when she wasn’t competing and decided to work several other jobs, including ring girl, bartender, and waitress.
Luckily, Danielle Kelly returned to submission grappling and became the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight world champion in September of this year.
Now that she’s made it to the top, the 27-year-old American looked back on the time when she was working other jobs. Kelly reflected on her experience with an Instagram post that featured an in-depth caption:
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“Same person, completely different lives. most people don’t know I used to ring girl and waitress/bartend. I did it for fun and had quit competing because of personal life events that happened and had no motivation to train jiu jitsu so I was completely lost in life on what I wanted to do. i was disrespected or looked at wrong ways, if that happens now I just give this look and it’s over🤣.”
Kelly concluded by saying:
“I look back at these I’m grateful for everything I have and see what I had to go through to get where I’m at today. things aren’t handed to you, you must put in the work and make sacrifices. PS I have no issues with ring girling, it wasn’t for me and when I look back I was just in a bad place. I rather be in the ring.”
Danielle Kelly holds a promotional record of 3-0-1, with her lone draw being in her ONE Championship debut against Mei Yamaguchi. Since then, Kelly has been unbeatable, leading to wins against Mariia Molchanova, Ayaka Miura, and Jessa Khan.
Kelly’s latest win was on September 29 against Khan for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title. The American not only secured ONE gold, but she also avenged a loss against Khan in 2021.
It’s unclear who Danielle Kelly will defend her throne against for the first time.
