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Danielle Kelly is now one of the most integral figures in the world of submission grappling, but things wouldn’t turned out the they way are if not for a reignited passion.
In an interview with the Chewjitsu Podcast, the ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion revealed that she nearly left Brazilian jiu-jitsu when she thought she had fallen in love with wrestling.
Kelly took on a different grappling art form in during her transition from high school to college but ultimately decided to return to BJJ when she started competing in the gi.
While she was still trying to regain her footing at BJJ, Kelly had stellar matches against competitors who frequented the openweight scenes.
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The American star was usually the smallest in her competitions, and competing against taller and stronger fighters rekindled her love for BJJ.
Kelly said:
“When I came back the first month later, I ended up doing like BJJ pro. I was doing the gi a lot and I placed like in third place out of like 25 women that were like in the absolute division, who still compete today.”
That love for BJJ eventually led to Kelly becoming one of the most sought-after submission grapplers on the planet.
After wreaking havoc in BJJ competitions, Kelly signed with ONE Championship in 2022 and quickly became one of the promotion’s top stars.
Kelly settled for a draw in her promotional debut against Japanese MMA pioneer Mei Yamaguchi at ONE X but quickly wracked up two straight wins against Sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova and Ayaka Miura.
Those two straight wins set up a dream match against old tormentor Jessa Khan for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title at ONE Fight Night 14.
Khan holds a win over Kelly when they faced each other at Who’s Number One in 2021. Their second meeting would see Kelly taking revenge over Khan on the global stage.
It was a tough match between the two, but it was Kelly who scored the decisive submission catch to earn the unanimous decision win and the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world championship.
Watch Kelly's entire interview below:
