Danielle Kelly is an American jiu-jitsu black belt from Philadelphia and the first ONE Championship women's atomweight submission grappling world champion. Her Instagram follows ONE fight weeks, training and seminars.
Background
Kelly was born on 4 December 1995 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a first-degree black belt under Karel Pravec, and Wikipedia lists her teams as Silver Fox BJJ and Evolve MMA. She signed with ONE Championship in February 2022, and the contract allowed her to compete in MMA as well as grappling.
Titles
- ONE women's atomweight submission grappling world champion: she won the inaugural title with a decision over Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 in September 2023. She lost it to Mayssa Bastos in August 2024.
- Rise Invitational 3: 125 lb champion in 2018.
- Submission Hunter Pro: 130 lb no-gi champion.
Wikipedia lists her grappling record as 20 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw.
Notable matches
Several of Kelly's best-known wins came against MMA fighters in grappling matches:
- Cynthia Calvillo (December 2019): ankle lock
- Roxanne Modafferi (October 2020): toe hold
- Carla Esparza (December 2021): doctor stoppage after a cut
- Mariia Molchanova (November 2022): rear-naked choke
- Ayaka Miura (February 2023): decision
- Mei Yamaguchi (March 2022): draw
Her losses include a February 2021 decision to Jessa Khan, which she avenged in the 2023 title match. She also lost to Tammi Musumeci by armlock at Who's Number One in September 2021 and to Alexa Yanes by split decision at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational in December 2021. Mayssa Bastos beat her by decision twice in 2024.
Related pages
The submissions listed above came from leg locks and the back. See our ashi garami and back control pages. Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.