American grappling ace Danielle Kelly has had an impressive run so far in her ONE Championship journey, which was punctuated by her claiming the inaugural atomweight submission grappling world title in her last fight in September.
She is now looking to continue the momentum she has built while fortifying her standing in the promotion as a world champion in her first defense of her belt at ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs Balart on Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.
But before she plunges into her first title defense, ONE Championship uploaded a video on its official YouTube channel of Danielle Kelly's ascent to the top of the heap in her division for fight fans to relive and have a better perspective on where she is coming from.
Check out the video below:
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Danielle Kelly's ONE Championship journey began at ONE X in March 2022 against veteran Japanese fighter Mei Yamaguchi. The contest, however, was rendered a draw by technical decision. Despite the outcome, the Silver Foxx BJJ standout impressed with her technique and decision making.
She followed it up with back-to-back victories, defeating Sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova of Russia by submission (rear-naked choke) in November 2022 then beating Japanese Ayaka Miura by unanimous decision in February last year.
Danielle Kelly saw her world title goals realized last September when she got the better of longtime rival Jessa Khan in their title clash, winning by unanimous decision while exacting payback to the Cambodian-American fighter for a previous loss outside of ONE Championship.
ONE Fight Night 24 will be played at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok and will be available live and for free on U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Danielle Kelly says she always knew Mayssa Bastos fight would happen
ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly said she was aware of the achievements of Mayssa Bastos in jiu-jitsu and already expecting that they would lock horns at some point. That said, she is coming into their scheduled title clash next month fully prepared and ready.
The two grappling aces are featured in the co-headlining contest at ONE Fight Night 24 on Prime Video on Aug. 2 in Thailand.
Speaking to Home of Fight ahead of her first title defense, Danielle Kelly touched on various aspects of her clash with Bastos, including how she is preparing for it, saying:
"I had an idea that I was going to go against her. She's been comepting the whole time. So I'm just kind of studying her and just working on what I'm good at."
In Bastos, Kelly is up against an opponent who is a multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion, both in Gi and No Gi, and boasts of an impressive 115-12 record.