ONE Championship: Danielle Kelly eyes Angela Lee grappling match after ‘really emotional’ debut
- ‘To be acknowledged for my work on such a big stage, it’s meant a lot to me,’ says BJJ black belt
- After pocketing post-fight bonus, Kelly says ‘it would be cool to have a match-up’ with atomweight queen Angela Lee
With a successful ONE Championship debut behind her, Danielle Kelly is looking ahead to her next challenge under the bright lights of the Asian martial arts promotion.
The 25-year-old American took her first steps into the ONE Championship Circle last Saturday in Singapore, battling Japanese MMA veteran Mei Yamaguchi in a submission grappling contest.
She failed to lock up a submission, which meant the 12-minute bout ended as a draw, but her performance impressed Chatri Sityodtong, the ONE boss, so much he gave her a US$50,0000 (HK$392,000) post-fight bonus.
“I wasn’t expecting [the bonus] all,” Kelly told the Post. “So when [commentator Mitch Chilson] announced it to me, I was like ‘wait, did he just say what I think he just said?’ I took it in. I started to cry. I got really emotional.”
Ever her own fiercest critic, Kelly briefly questioned whether she really deserved a bonus after failing to submit Yamaguchi at ONE X. However, now that she is back home on American soil, she sees the bonus as an affirmation of all the progress she is made.
“I put in the time, I put in the work for all these years,” Kelly said. “I was putting in matches where I would make two hundred dollars in a small gymnasium. To be acknowledged for my work on such a big stage, it’s meant a lot to me.”
After such an impressive debu, Kelly wants keep the momentum going. She is eyeing a return to the ONE Championship in June – the next time there’s a break in the jam-packed schedule of seminars she teaches all over America – and has some big names in mind for her next appearance.
For one, she is interested in tangling with fellow Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt Angela Lee, ONE’s reigning atomweight MMA champion, who defended her title with a submission of Stamp Fairtex in Singapore.
“I saw Angela Lee pull off a really good Twister attempt [at ONE X],” she said. “I’ve been working on those, I love those, so it would be cool to have a match-up with her. She’s been fighting and grappling for awhile. She’s a black belt as well.”
Kelly is also interested in meeting fellow submission grappling whizz Michelle Nicolini – a match-up fans have been calling for.
“I see a lot people tagging me and Michelle Nicolini [in posts],” she said. “If she makes 115 [pounds], I would love to go against Michelle Nicolini. She’s a superstar as well in the grappling world. A veteran.”
While Kelly’s first priority is another grappling match, she also plans to make her debut in MMA before the year is out.
“I plan to train, drill every day, with MMA and my grappling,” she said. “So hopefully by the end of the year.”
With a bonus check in the bank, and so many interesting options ahead of her, Kelly is feeling grateful for her position on the ONE roster, and more motivated than ever to excel in her chose field.
“I’m just very happy where I’m at in the promotion,” she said. “It just makes me want to work harder. I feel like I have so much more to learn, so much more to do, and it motivates me.
“I’ve been training since the morning today, and yesterday I didn’t get home till like 11. I’m putting a lot of work in. It’s given me a lot of motivation. It’s done a lot of good for me.”
