Danielle Kelly (born December 4, 1995) is an American submission grappler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who was the inaugural and former ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion. She has wins over IBJJF World Champion Jessa Khan, Roxanne Modafferi, Cynthia Calvillo and the former UFC Women's Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza.
Career
Fury Pro Grappling Kelly fought Cathryn Millares in the co-main event of Fury Pro Grappling 2 on October 29, 2021 and won the match by unanimous decision. Kelly was scheduled to face Rose Namajunas at Fury Pro Grappling 3 on December 30, 2021. However, Namajunas was forced to withdraw from the event at the last minute due to a positive Covid-19 test and was replaced by Carla Esparza. During the match, Esparza slammed Kelly from full guard and the resulting clash of heads opened up a cut above Esparza's eyebrow. The doctors attending called the match off and the victory was awarded to Kelly as a result of the injury.
Who's Number One Kelly made her debut for Who's Number One on February 26, 2021 at WNO: Craig Jones v Ronaldo Junior, where she lost a unanimous decision to Jessa Khan. She returned on June 18, 2021 at WNO: Craig Jones v Tye Ruotolo and submitted Jessica Crane with a kneebar in the first match of the event. These performances earned her an invitation to compete for a title in the Women's Strawweight division of the Who's Number One Championships on September 25–26, 2021. Kelly lost by unanimous decision to Grace Gundrum in the opening round, before submitting Jessica Crane with a heelhook in the first round of the consolation bracket. She was then submitted with an armlock by Tammi Musumeci and did not make it to the third-place final match.
ONE Championship On February 17, 2022, it was announced that Kelly signed with ONE Championship to compete in grappling, as well as mixed martial arts if she wished to.
Kelly made her promotional debut against Japanese veteran Mei Yamaguchi in an atomweight submission grappling match at ONE: X on March 26, 2022. The match ended in a draw after neither could find the submission. This win earned her the Performance of the Night award.
Kelly faced Sambo World Champion Mariia Molchanova at ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 19, 2022. She won the fight via rear-naked choke. This win earned her the Performance of the Night award.
Kelly faced Ayaka Miura at ONE Fight Night 7 on February 25, 2023. She won the match by unanimous decision.
ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship Kelly faced Jessa Khan in a rematch for the inaugural ONE Women's Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship on September 30, 2023 at ONE Fight Night 14. Kelly won the match by decision and became the promotion's first female submission grappling world champion.
Kelly defended her title against Mayssa Bastos at ONE Fight Night 24 on August 2nd, 2024. She lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Kelly challenged Mayssa Bastos for her ONE Women's Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title in a rematch on December 6, 2024 at ONE Fight Night 26. She lost the match by decision.
Other Promotions Kelly fought UFC veteran Roxanne Modafferi in the main event of Submission Hunter Pro 60 on October 25, 2020, submitting her with a toehold.
She fought at the inaugural UFC Fightpass Invitational on December 16, 2021, taking on Alexa Yanes. Kelly lost the match via split decision.
Instructor lineage Kano Jigoro → Tomita Tsunejirō → Mitsuyo Maeda → Carlos Gracie Sr. → Hélio Gracie → Rolls Gracie → Carlos Gracie Jr. → Renzo Gracie → Karel Pavec → Danielle Kelly
Championships and accomplishments
ONE Championship ONE Women's Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion (One time; former; inaugural) Performance of the Night (Two times) RISE Invitational Rise Invitational 3 125 lbs Championship (2018) Submission Hunter Pro SHP 130 lbs No Gi Champion
Submission grappling record
ResultRecordOpponentMethodEventDivisionTypeDateLocationLoss20–11–1 Mayssa BastosDecision (unanimous)ONE Fight Night 26−115 lbsSubmission GrapplingDecember 7, 2024BangkokLoss20–10–1 Mayssa BastosDecision (unanimous)ONE Fight Night 24−115 lbsSubmission GrapplingAugust 3, 2024BangkokWin20–9–1 Jessa KhanDecision (unanimous)ONE Fight Night 14−115 lbsNogiSeptember 29, 2023KallangWin19–9–1 Ayaka MiuraDecision (unanimous)ONE Fight Night 7−119 lbsNogiFebruary 24, 2023BangkokWin18–9–1 Mariia MolchanovaSubmission (rear-naked choke)ONE on Prime Video 4−115 lbsNogiNovember 18, 2022KallangDraw 17–9–1 Mei YamaguchiDraw (time expire)ONE: X−115 lbsNogiMarch 26, 2022KallangWin17–9 Carla EsparzaDoctor stoppage (cut)Fury Pro Grappling 3−115 lbsNogiDecember 30, 2021Philadelphia, PALoss16–9 Alexa YanesDecision (split)UFC Fight Pass Invitational−125 lbsNogiDecember 16, 2021Las Vegas, NVWin16–8 Cathryn MillaresDecisionFury Pro Grappling 2−115 lbsNogiOctober 29, 2021Philadelphia, PALoss15–8 Tammi MusumeciSubmission (armlock)Who's Number One Championship–115 lbsNogiSeptember 26, 2021Austin, TXWin15–7 Jessica CraneSubmission (inside heel hook)Loss14–7 Grace GundrumDecisionSeptember 25, 2021Win14–6 Sofia AmaranteSubmission (rear-naked choke)Fury Pro Grappling 1−115 lbsNogiJuly 2, 2021Philadelphia, PAWin13–6 Jessica CraneSubmission (kneebar)WNO: Craig Jones vs Tye Ruotolo−115 lbsNogiJune 18, 2021Austin, TXLoss12–6 Jessa KhanDecisionWNO: Craig Jones vs Ronaldo Junior−115 lbsNogiFebruary 26, 2021Austin, TXWin12–5 Roxanne ModafferiSubmission (toe hold)Sumision Hunter Pro 60−130 lbsNogiOctober 25, 2020Houston, TXLoss11–5 Grace GundrumFastest Escape TimeJiu-Jitsu Over Time: The Featherweights−115 lbsNogiJuly 19, 2020Los Angeles, CALoss11–4 Nicole SullivanSubmission2020 IBJJF San Jose Open No Gi−135.6 lbsNogiFebruary 25, 2020San Jose, CAWin11–3 Cynthia CalvilloSubmission (ankle lock)Quintet Ultra−115 lbsNogiDecember 12, 2019Las Vegas, NVWin10–3 Jillian DeCourseySubmission (kneebar)Rise Invitational 8−115 lbsNogiOctober 26, 2019Westbury, NYWin9–3 Brittany WayOT2019 SubStars at The Tank 2−115 lbsNogiJuly 19, 2019Miami, FLWin8–3 Mariuxi LlagunoPoints2019 JitzKing Tampa−125 lbsNogiJuly 6, 2019Tampa, FLLoss7–3 Nicole SullivanSubmission2019 ADCC West Coast Trials–60 kgNogiFebruary 9, 2019Burbank, CAWin7–2 Jessica BuchmanSubmissionWin6–2 Alison StieglerSubmissionLoss5–2 Rikako YuasaFastest Escape TimeEBI 18–115 lbsNogiDecember 9, 2018Austin, TXWin5–1 Lilaa SmadjaSubmission (armbar)Win4–1 Bruna BrunsSubmission (heel hook)Fight 2 Win 81−115 lbsNogiJuly 21, 2018Philadelphia, PAWin3–1 Amanda KrammySubmission (armbar)Rise Invitational 3–125 lbsNogiJanuary 13, 2018Westbury, NYWin2–1 Lauren BracciaSubmission (armbar)Win1–1 Lilaa SmadjaOT2014 Pan Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship–125 lbsNogiMarch 12, 2014Irvine, CALoss0–1 Rikako YuasaOT
References