Danielle Kelly has been a pioneer for female grapplers in ONE Championship since her debut last year.
The American BJJ phenom has competed in the promotion three times, and she’ll look to use that experience to her advantage when she welcomes old foe Jessa Khan to ONE in their battle for the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world title at “ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham” on Prime Video on September 29.
Kelly competed in ONE’s first ever women’s submission grappling match in March 2022, battling Japanese MMA legend Mei Yamaguchi to a draw at ONE X.
The 27-year-old has claimed victory in her two appearances since then, and she says that she appreciates the opportunity she has to lead the way for women’s grappling in ONE.
“I feel really grateful and honored that I had that. I had the opportunity to be like one of the first women’s grappling matches and (now) going for the title,” Kelly said.
“I feel like I worked really hard for it. Feel like, you know, this is my time to really prove myself, stamp my jiu-jitsu accomplishments and prove that I really belong here.”
To claim the historic inaugural strap, however, Kelly will have to get past a reigning IBJJF world champion in Khan.
But with ONE returning to the Singapore Indoor Stadium and the match set to go down inside the ONE Circle instead of the ring it has used in Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for most of this year, the Philadelphia native feels that the familiar surrounds will hold her in good stead when she welcomes her foe to the global stage.
“I think partially, maybe a small percentage, of this match that I think is going to play a part is me being experienced in the ring or in the cage. This is in Singapore, so this will be in the cage,” Kelly said.
“I actually like competing in the cage, and I feel like very few people, like Mikey (Musumeci), he uses the cage really well and he’s been really dominant. But other jiu-jitsu people, kind of, struggled. I don’t need to name names, but I noticed their game was kind of like, conflicted with the cage. But they still did really well.
“But, you know, I think the wall and ring and cage kind of plays a factor into the match, so I think I have a little small percentage over her for that.”
