Since signing with ONE Championship, submission fighter Danielle Kelly has been calling out some of the biggest names in the promotion.
From the moment she became part of the ONE family, the 27-year-old has been campaigning for high-profile matchups as she looks to prove herself on the biggest stage possible.
One name that has repeatedly passed her mouth is atomweight world champion Angela Lee. The champion and Kelly have exchanged words on several occasions as both women seem open to the idea of testing their grappling skills against each other.
During her pre-event interview ahead of ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, Danielle Kelly mentioned another name alongside Lee, MMA strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan.
She said:
“I would love to go against both of them [Xiong and Angela Lee]. I would love to go against her. Why not? Sounds easy to me. I think it will be an easier matchup than Angela, but I won’t turn it down.”
Xiong Jing Nan and Angela Lee are the only MMA fighters to have claimed a world title at ONE Championship, having claimed the inaugural belts in their respective divisions and defeating every challenger they faced.
Kelly looks forward to testing her skills against the two formidable women’s champions to draw attention to the submission hold.
Danielle Kelly Talks ONE Championship Submission Grasp Rule Set
Danielle Kelly is one of the top submission grappling competitors on the ONE Championship roster. In recent years, the promotion has been investing heavily in the sport, and with that comes a unique set of rules.
ONE Championship’s variation on the grappling ruleset favors offense over anything else, encouraging competitors to try and finish the competition. With that, he rewards fighters with a decision win if they can’t get the submission but produced the best threats.
At ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, Kelly will compete in the promotion for the third time when she takes on Japanese judo specialist Ayaka Miura.
With his opponent’s strong background and experience competing in MMA, Kelly knows that Miura will be difficult to submit. However, she can take full advantage of ONE’s variation on the submission hold to ensure that, being the aggressor, she raises her hand anyway.
In her pre-event interview before February 24, Danielle Kelly said:
“I like it, it makes people not stop or stay in one position and then have the other person. The referees will tell you to keep going if you stop. You’ll get a tally card, which is good for the sport because no one wants to see boring or stagnant jiu-jitsu. So I like the rules because they help you move forward with the presentations.”
Fans in the United States and Canada can watch the fight live and free this Friday on Prime Video with an active Amazon subscription.