Danielle Kelly Impressed By Ruotolo Twins, Describes Them As “Freak Athletes”

ONE Championship’s newly developed submission grappling roster offers martial arts fans a unique dimension of combat sports action different from the high-octane showdowns that MMA, kickboxing, and Muay Thai bring to the Circle. And that is largely down to the level of athletes the Singapore-based organization has acquired over the past couple of years, including American phenom and BJJ black belt Danielle Kelly.

The Silver Fox BJJ representative is set to continue her rapid rise through the submission grappling ranks when she takes on Ayaka “Zombie” Miura in a 119-pound catchweight battle at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II on Prime Video next Friday, February 24.

Danielle Kelly was all praises for Kade and Tye Ruotolo

Speaking of her role and position in ONE, Kelly offered, “I think, being in this position, I feel pretty blessed. But also, it’s work now. People are watching me. There are more eyes on me. So it made me work harder and work more.”

Her scale to the top of the roster has amazed martial arts enthusiasts – as well as herself – but the 27-year-old star admits that she’s been similarly impressed by two other grapplers plying their trade in ONE. They happen to be none other than Tye and Kade Ruotolo, the hottest names in submission grappling, who have racked up a combined slate of 5-0 in the Circle against notable ground game specialists.

Speaking of her admiration of the American twins ahead of her return at Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium next Friday, Kelly said, “They’re very talented. They’re freak athletes, in the nicest way of saying that. Every time they compete, I root for them, and before they got popular, I was always rooting for them.”

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The twin brothers competed under the ONE spotlight for the first time at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot in May last year.

Kade and Tye Ruotolo deserved every bit of appreciation they received from Kelly

Tye went on to seal a 97-second submission win over Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon while Kade earned a hard-fought decision victory against Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki – one of the most dangerous grappling-based MMA stars on the planet.

Kade then went on to win the inaugural ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion against Russia’s Uali Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October. In their most recent battles, both superstars picked up another win at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December. 

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Kade defended his gold with a supreme grappling showcase against Brazil’s Matheus Gabriel, and his twin brother tapped out MMA veteran and former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov just after the halfway mark of their 10-minute contest.

Kelly hopes to excite the fans as much as the Ruotolo brothers have done so far in their ONE tenures, and her opportunity to try and do that will come against Miura at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II on Prime Video next Friday.