“I’m Still Putting The Pieces Of The Puzzle Together” – BJJ Star Danielle Kelly Discusses Potential MMA Transition

Submission grappling expert Danielle Kelly is hoping to expand her resume inside the ONE Circle in the near future, and the young American star has in her sights on none other than mixed martial arts. 

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt got her tenure at the Singapore-based promotion off to a memorable start with a tactical and impressive grappling showcase against Japanese veteran Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi at ONE X this past March. 

Despite the match ending in a draw, the 26-year-old came close to a win with several submission attempts, and she earned a US$50,000 performance bonus for her efforts. 

With her grappling pedigree, Kelly shouldn’t have a problem progressing to MMA. However, she plans to take it one step at a time.

“I just have to keep myself humble and not think that just because I’m good at grappling, I’m going to beat up everyone,” she said.

The Philadelphia native has been gradually adding elements of the all-encompassing sport into her training program, but she is adamant that she will not rush into her fight until she is fully ready to tackle the challenge.

Among the areas of MMA that Kelly has covered are striking and wrestling, the latter of which she has been doing since high school, given its similar traits to BJJ.

“I started wrestling after I joined jiu-jitsu, about six months later. I wrestled until my senior year or college freshman year. I was doing folkstyle in school, and I was doing freestyle outside of it because I was planning on going to college for freestyle,” she said.

From a striking front, Kelly understands that she has lots to work on. But her progress hints that she is nearing her dream of competing in an MMA match in ONE.

“I have been doing my [MMA] classes right now. I’ve been getting back into sparring. It’s very humbling, just because of the girls that I train with. They’re in other organizations, some of them are top 10 – and they’re really good at jiu-jitsu, too,” she shared.

“It’s going to be hard for me if I go against someone who has a [striking] background. I need to learn how to defend or strike. So that’s where I’m still putting the pieces of the puzzle together. But it does give me hope.”