On Sept. 29, reside from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, ONE Championship will crown its inaugural Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion at ONE Fight Night 14, when Danielle Kelly takes on Jessa Khan throughout an all-female card set to be broadcast reside on Prime Video.
Here, in an unique interview with M&F, Kelly opens up about her difficult begin in grappling, the extreme coaching that she undergoes, and a “weird” meditation approach that relaxes her on the finish of every demanding day.
Now 27 years of age, Danielle Kelly’s journey to grappling greatness serves as inspiration for any fledgling athlete. While she is thought right now as an elite competitor that has defeated the likes of the previous UFC Women’s Strawweight champ; Carla Esparza and is revered for her huge arsenal of submissions, scientific takedowns, and superior conditioning, the highway to the highest has been a bumpy one to say the least. Bullied when shifting to a brand new faculty on the age of 10, Kelly vowed to take management of her personal future.
While she already had some karate expertise, shifting houses had meant she wanted to search for a brand new coach. “I didn’t know what jiu-jitsu was, back then, it was around 2006, so jiujitsu wasn’t really as popular as MMA,” explains Kelly, who at the moment weighed round 60 kilos and was maybe an all too straightforward goal. “Luckily, where I was living at, two blocks up was a (jiu-jitsu) gym … Dad found it online but then my mom took me there … I originally wanted to learn striking because I went from karate to jiu-jitsu, but at the time I didn’t know what jiu-jitsu or anything like that was, so I was like; ‘yeah, I wanna lean how to fight, because I’m being bullied a lot.”
Danielle Kelly Learned That Grappling Is Perfect for Taking Down Larger Opponents
Grappling with jiujitsu, Kelly quickly realized that there was extra to defeating an opponent than strikes, incomes the understanding that jiujitsu prepares you for greater opponents, and methods of defending your self ought to a struggle go to floor. “My first ever class, actually, was in a sparring class going against boys and I took them down,” beams Kelly. “I learned my first rear naked choke, which I really love, and do in my matches still, and yeah, the rest is history.”
Just 4 months into her jiu-jitsu coaching, Kelly entered her first event, and a ardour for competing was significantly ignited. In eighth grade, Kelly was shoved within the hallway. Her instincts kicked in and he or she decked the bully with a double leg takedown. “I did feel bad, because this person didn’t know how to defend herself,” displays the scholar grappler on her newfound powers. She was suspended for 2 days because of that brawl, however not everybody was disenchanted in her. “My dad took me to Dunkin’ Donuts … we had Pumpkin Munchkins, good times, and I didn’t get in trouble [at home]…” Tragically, Kelly misplaced each of her dad and mom to sickness as a younger grownup, however says that she is perpetually motivated by what they did for her each bodily and mentally, and seems like every struggle is about making them pleased with their daughter.
To construct her expertise whereas nonetheless at school, Kelly had additionally joined the college wrestling crew. “No girl had ever joined the wrestling team,” she says of being the one feminine in a male dominated world, and recollects that she usually felt undesirable as a teammate. At highschool, in her sophomore 12 months, Kelly recollects a very upsetting incident when the wrestling crew had a bunch image, and he or she was the one individual not given an official sweatshirt to put on. Instead, she needed to put on the long-sleeve shirt that was worn by the feminine managers. Then there was the highschool wrestling coach that by no means travelled to any of her wrestling meets. Understandably, she felt fully unsupported. “I had to see a lot of mean things as a kid,” she shares.
In looking for the positives in her journey to date, Kelly now understands that being pressured to grapple with boys and later males was a sure-fire approach of constructing energy and bettering her jiujitsu approach. Kelly’s dad had launched her to the advantages of weights and cardio from a younger age, and so she additionally feels that her early begin in constructing conditioning supplied an important benefit to her profession. These days, there are lots of extra girls in full-contact sports activities, and it’s because of courageous trailblazers like Danielle Kelly that the subsequent era can see themselves represented and really feel like they’ll become involved too.
Danielle Kelly Is Training to Use All Her Tools Ahead of ONE Atomweight Championship Clash
Kelly finally settled on the Silver Fox BJJ dojo beneath the legendary coach, Karel Pravec, and earned a black belt by the point she was 24. In February, 2022, Kelly signed with ONE Championship and in her debut there, she drew with the Japanese veteran, Mei Yamaguchi however earned the “Performance of the Night” gong for her efforts. Kelly received her second match, and one other efficiency of the night time award when she defeated the Sambo World Champion, Mariia Molchanova along with her beloved rear bare chokehold. Then Kelly battled to a unanimous resolution over Ayaka Miura, and is now heading into her all-important championship conflict with Jessa Khan, to be contested contained in the cage, with nice momentum.
“With the cage being added, it’s a tool to be used in strategy,” says Kelly who understands that the partitions of the cage can be utilized to assist acquire management of a struggle, however this added dimension also can check the conditioning of all who enter into it. “My focus for the last few weeks has been drilling. I wake up, I train every morning,” By 9 a.m., Kelly is sweating it out within the dojo for 3 hours. In the afternoons, she goes for a run or lifts weights to construct muscle endurance. From 5pm to six.30 p.m. Kelly teaches jiujitsu after which she continues her personal coaching till 10pm or generally midnight relying on journey.
Danielle Kelly Uses a ‘Weird’ Meditation Technique to Unwind After Intense Training
“So, I feel like jiu-jitsu, even just working out in general has given me a lot of confidence and helped my self-esteem,” says Kelly. But when it’s time to cease and unwind, she has her personal approach of switching off and this consists of her deaf, 5 12 months outdated canine Griffith and a few high quality display time. “When I like to come home from a long training session, he’s there, he’s my buddy, like, he helps me relax, we watch jiu-jitsu matches together (laughs). I get made fun of people think it’s weird, but it’s just how I meditate. But, the week of my match, I’ll either watch a lot of anime, like Avatar, or something like exciting anime shows or horror movies where someone, it’s like gore and bloody … I’m kinda crazy so that’s what keeps me content.”
Right earlier than a match, Kelly meditates once more by enjoyable her thoughts, in order that she shouldn’t be too inflexible earlier than it begins. “Pretend like it’s just another day at work and just go with the flow,” she explains. With simply days to go earlier than the most important night time of her life, Kelly is grateful to those who have supported her. “It’s really cool to be part of this experience, and I just wanna prove what I can do, and to showcase my jiu-jitsu.” For extra information on ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video go to onefc.com.