“It keeps me on my toes” - Danielle Kelly on how she deals with newfound fame and callouts from other fighters

American grappling star Danielle Kelly is trying to adjust to her burgeoning fame in the combat sports world. Athletes are beginning to call her out and this is something new for the 26-year-old competitor.

The Silver Fox BJJ-trained athlete recently discussed this new phenomenon in an interview with ONE Championship. She was asked how it feels having people call her out, to which Kelly explained:

“It feels pretty good. But also, it kind of like keeps me on my toes because I'm kind of like on the radar, and a lot of girls, kind of talk about me to either get attention. Either because they're unknown, or they have to mention me that they can beat me in jiu-jitsu. But they don't really mean it, because they'll never grapple me.”

Earlier this year, Danielle Kelly got into a verbal sparring match with the ONE atomweight queen 'Unstoppable' Angela Lee.

At the ONE Championship-Amazon Prime Video joint press conference, Kelly was asked about potentially facing Lee. She answered:

“I’m a jiu-jitsu person so I’ve been focusing on legit grapplers.”

Angela Lee responded:

“She’s trying to stir up drama saying that… Step into the circle with me, put on your MMA gloves, and let's go.”

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Danielle Kelly's next match in ONE Championship

Fans will no doubt be looking forward to Danielle Kelly returning to the ONE Circle. Her next scheduled match will be against multi-time sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova. The two are booked for their submission grappling showdown at ONE on Prime Video 4 on November 18.

Kelly explained that she has competed in both sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. She claims that the latter is simply superior. While speaking to ONE Championship, she said:

"For this match, she’s not going to have the gi, so I think it’ll be in my favor. But I think the rule set, too, is they’re very aggressive with takedowns, so I think they’re very favored in that aspect of the match. Yeah, I have some experience, so when people are like, ‘Oh, you should do sambo, compete in that sport, too,’ and it’s like, ‘Yeah, I did, but I won, too, so what now?’ But yeah, it’s fine, but jiu-jitsu is better.”

Kelly will get the chance to prove her theory when she meets Molchanova at ONE on Prime Video 4 in US primetime on November 18. All the action will be broadcast live and for free on Amazon's streaming platform for all its subscribers.