As opposed to traditional Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Danielle Kelly is most interested in competing in no-gi submission grappling.
BJJ practitioners can compete in submission grappling with or without the GI according on the specific rules of the event. The vast majority of Gi events take place in tournaments hosted by organizations such as IBJJF, although No-Gi matches can be seen on a variety of platforms, including ONE Championship.
Kelly discussed which of the two grappling formats she preferred during an interview with Sherdog. She said the following about her preference:
“I don’t hate the gi, but if I’m going to be an outsider and you know, looking in, I feel like no-gi is way more exciting than the gi,” he added. “I mean, I don’t hate the gi.” “Once more, I don’t despise the gi. I believe that wearing the gi is incredibly difficult, and that it is also a very technical sport. I get the impression that you are aware of the necessity to be intelligent and to continue to exercise good judgment when competing in the gi. However, when it comes to no-gi, the competition is just a lot more thrilling because there are a lot more options or submissions available.
In March of 2022, Danielle Kelly competed for the first time in ONE Championship. Her first match was against Mei Yamaguchi, and the match ended in a tie. Kelly’s hard work and impressive show of her skills paid off in the shape of a performance bonus of $50,000.
Since then, the American superstar has defeated Mariia Molchanova by a rear-naked choke, which resulted in another performance bonus of $50,000, and Ayaka Miura via a unanimous decision, both of which led to victories for the fighter.
Kelly will make her return to the ring on September 29 for ONE Fight Night 14, which will feature a matchup with huge stakes. Jessa Khan, also competing for the ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world title, will provide the 27-year-old with an additional source of motivation as they go head to head for the championship.
When Kelly and Khan faced off against each other for the first time in February 2021 under the Who’s #1 banner, Khan came out on top and was declared the winner by unanimous judgment.
Check out the interview that Danielle Kelly had with Sherdog below:
ONE Fight Night 14 will take place inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and will feature three bouts for world titles. One of the bouts will be Danielle Kelly versus Jessa Khan. Viewers in North America who have a current subscription to Amazon Prime Video will not have to pay anything extra to see the event as it happens live and in its entirety.
