“I could see myself doing that” - Danielle Kelly sees herself following in Gina Carano’s footsteps

BJJ rising star Danielle Kelly revealed that she is inspired by MMA trailblazer Gina Carano.

Known for playing Cara Dune in the Star Wars title, The Mandalorian (airing on Disney+), the former Strikeforce and Elite Ex fighter paved the way for the future of women’s MMA before hitting the big screens.

Heralded as the face of women’s MMA, she wowed fans with her incredible talent, charming personality, and staggering good-looks.

Mesmerized by her successful careers in MMA and Hollywood, Danielle Kelly told Denice Salcedo from Instinct Culture that she sees herself following in her footsteps:

“The very first woman I looked up to was Gina Carano. She was the first one to kind of put women’s MMA in the mainstream. And now, she’s into movies, she’s a movie star to Hollywood. That’s definitely a goal — I could see myself doing that.”

Danielle Kelly is an accomplished jiu-jitsu black belt who began her journey competing under the banners of JitzKing Promotions and EBI before turning heads with her talent at Who’s Number One in 2021. That year, she recorded the fastest submission in women’s history by tapping out Jessica Crane with a kneebar in just 3 minutes.

The 26 year-old phenom has fought against the best grapplers in the world, including IBJF world champion Sofia Amarante, ONE newcomer Jessa Khan, and MMA fighters Carla Esparza and Mei Yamaguchi. With Kelly’s inspiring backstory and winning personality, the Philadelphia native is on track to make MMA trailblazer Gina Carano proud.

Check out Kelly's full interview with ONE below:

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Watching wrestlers make their way to MMA gives Danielle Kelly confidence to do the same

Danielle Kelly feels confident in making her way to MMA after watching other stars do the same before her. In past interviews, Kelly has expressed her desire to do more than just compete in jiu-jitsu.

The grappling specialist told SCMP MMA:

“I’ve been watching Garry Tonon ever since he had his first ONE fight. I’m still amazed how he puts his jiu-jitsu and wrestling into MMA all together. That’s what gives me confidence. If you look at other high level jiu-jitsu athletes in MMA, they’re doing pretty well.”

Finding inspiration in stars like Garry Tonon and Itsuki Hirata, who both have deep grappling backgrounds, Kelly could be taking her leap into MMA sooner than expected.