Danielle Kelly Doesn’t Rule out an MMA Transition, ‘There's Definitely That Thought’

Danielle Kelly is only a few days away from making history and becoming the first One Championship women's atomweight grappling titleholder, which might eventually lead to her mixed martial arts debut.

In her upcoming assignment, Kelly (2-0-1 ONE) will take on longtime rival Jessa Khan in an anticipated rematch at ONE on Prime Video 14 on Sept. 29. While she expects Khan to be aggressive and attempt to use the cage to her advantage, Kelly has been preparing for this contest since her last one, a unanimous decision over Ayaka Miura at ONE Fight Night 7, and had studied Khan's previous matches extensively. When asked about her preference between gi and no-gi grappling, Kelly expressed her focus on no-gi and the challenges and excitement it offers. Still, she also mentioned she would like to compete in gi tournaments to broaden her competition experience. That's why she didn’t close the door to a possible mixed martial arts transition in the future, although her current focus is on her forthcoming contest with Khan.

“Right now, I've been focusing on getting this title match with Jessa and, when I win, I will go from there and decide if I wanna have a fight or two. I definitely want [it]. There’s some negotiations that have to be talked about, but for my first-ever MMA fight, I would definitely like to down the line. That's kind of why I started jiu-jitsu 'cause I was getting bullied and I wanted to fight, but my old coach kind of like lured me to stick with the gi and no-gi as a kid. There's definitely that thought. Eventually, I would like to have one or two fights, maybe more. Right now, I'm just focusing on my no-gi matches and accomplishing getting the title first.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:17) Preparing for Khan
(01:07) Her dog, Griffith
(01:46) Competing for the title in ONE
(02:28) Traveling to Singapore
(03:19) Overcoming Miura via submission
(04:51) Facing Khan for the second time
(06:14) What she expects from Khan
(08:11) Whether she prefers training with gi or no gi
(09:08) Whether she’d like ONE to promote gi contests
(10:05) Leaving the door open for her MMA debut
(11:16) Her competitive spirit
(12:51) Outro