Danielle Kelly - Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion

Danielle Kelly is one of the top prominent figures in the world of jiu-jitsu. She gained fame as the Inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion. Her physical attributes helped her to get prominence in BJJ. She was 5 feet and 4 inches and her weight of 114 pounds also assisted her in showcasing her incredible grappling skills on the BJJ mats. She often gained an advantage due to her stature.

Danielle Kelly first started her jiu-jitsu training in 1997 and at that time, she was just 11 years old. She had an innate love for athletics, so she wanted to become a pro grappler. Danielle Kelly had a strong belief that grappling is extremely significant in defeating the larger and stronger opponents. Kelly first takes down the boys in her first-ever sparring class. In her initial BJJ training, she learned the Rear Naked Choke and then successfully applied that in her various battles. Kelly’s training period was extremely short and she participated in her first tournament after 4 months of her training. Kelly was extremely passionate so she also joined the wrestling in her school time. As she was the only female at that time, initially she was not encouraged as a team member. She also faced discouraging behavior in her high school but she never lost his courage and considered all hardships as the best way to learn the BJJ in a commendable way.

Kelly had a 5-year-old deaf dog pet, Griffith. She loves her pet and feels pleasure in spending quality time with his dog after returning from training sessions. As she said:

Danielle Kelly secured various winning titles in different championships such as ONE Women's Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion, Performance of the Night, Rise Invitational 3 125 lbs Championship, and SHP 130 lbs No Gi Champion.

Danielle Kelly is currently serving at Evolve Mixed Martial Arts Institute located in Singapore. Kelly is considered the most important part of the Evolve Instructor Team which is recognized as Asia’s largest team with a great range of professionals. Evolve has been producing various top athletes by winning various tournaments in Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai. The environment of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts is extremely productive as students learn the basics of martial arts under the supervision of the world’s top Professional grapplers. Students not only learn martial arts but also gain self-confidence and strength, They learn to apply the best grappling strategies and the smart ways that they can implement self-defense techniques in the real world. Due to all the significant features, Evolve is ranked as the top grappling academy in the era of martial arts.

Danielle Kelly is one of the top grapplers who learned advanced BJJ skills by training with top jiu-jitsu grapplers. She was not only trained with professionals but also defeated them in various BJJ competitions. A few top veterans against whom she competed include Cynthia Calvillo, Carla Esparza Roxanne Modafferi, etc. Once in an interview, she said:

On 26 February 2021, Kelly made her first debut for Who's Number One. After competing against Jessa Khan and Jessica Crane, she participated in the Women's Strawweight division of the Who's Number One Championships.

On 30 September 2023, Danielle Kelly faced Jessa Khan in a rematch for the inaugural ONE Women's Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship. After successfully winning the fight, Kelly became the promotion's first female submission grappling world champion.

Kelly got immense support from both of her parents but unfortunately, she lost them in her adult age. Kelly considered their parents as her source of motivation and competed in every fight by thinking that she had to win to make her parents proud.

She used to perform the perfect combination of both strength and conditioning exercises. She also worked on her drilling techniques in all her sparring sessions. She just wanted to showcase her phenomenal grappling skills in all top jiu-jitsu tournaments.

In 2023, Inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship, Danielle Kelly faced Jessa Khan. That was a tough battle with her longtime rival Jessa Khan. Kelly jumped onto a Khan with a combination of kneebar and toehold techniques to secure the first catch of the match. After attempting the successful leg lock technique, Kelly earned the biggest win of her impressive career.

In the 2022 ONE Fight Night 4 Championship, Danielle Kelly competed against Mariia Molchanova. Both competitors tried hard for submission but within the last few minutes, Kelly secured the victory by applying the Rear Naked Choke Technique.

In the 2022 ONE Championship, Danielle Kelly faced the Japanese MMA veteran Mei Yamaguchi. But the match was drawn based on the Referee’s Decision.

FASTEST submission in women's WNO history 😮 Jessica Crane vs. Danielle Kelly

Mei Yamaguchi vs. Danielle Kelly | ONE Championship Full Fight

She’s A Beauty & A Beast 😍😈 Danielle Kelly’s Next-Level Grappling

Danielle Kelly vs. Mariia Molchanova | ONE Championship Full Fight

Photo Credit: @daniellekellybjj