“Keep my mind off that negative impact” - Danielle Kelly has been working on dealing with pressure for big fights

Competing at the highest level entails a lot of pressure. It is what American grappling ace Danielle Kelly has learned to address of late and reap the benefits from.

The reigning ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion admitted that she used to put too much pressure on herself every time she prepared for fights that prevented her from performing at a level that she wanted to.

But she has worked on such a mindset, incorporating other activities to easen up the burden on her and it has resulted in added success.

The 28-year-old Silver Fox BJJ standout shared this in a recent interview with Chewjitsu Podcast, saying:

“I started doing certain things to get my mind off the pressure of a fight. In my other matches like I was always just thinking about, ‘Oh my God, what if they do this. What if they do that, what if this happens.’ And you know I just kind of would lose. So right now there’s always other activities to keep my mind off that negative impact of a fight.”

Watch the interview below:

Danielle Kelly made her ONE Championship debut in March 2022. Save for the draw (technical decision) she had against Japanese Mei Yamaguchi in her maiden outing, she has won three straight.

Her latest victory (unanimous decision) came at the expense of Cambodian-American Jessa Khan back in September, earning her the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title.

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Danielle Kelly proud to be the face of women’s jiu-jitsu

By winning the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title, Danielle Kelly knew that she was thrust to be the face of women’s jiu-jitsu in ONE Championship. It is something that she is proud and glad to do.

The Philadelphia native made history by becoming the first female submission grappling champion in ONE after beating by unanimous decision Jessa Khan in their title clash in September.

It did not come easy for her as the Cambodian-American put up a gallant stand to send the contest to the full distance. But Kelly was not to be denied the victory, with all judges giving her the nod.

During the press conference after her title conquest, the Silver Fox BJJ standout spoke about what winning the world title meant and her expectations as she progresses in her ONE journey.

She said:

“This means that the next one’s not gonna be easy, I have to work really hard, but this means that I’m a warrior. Again I worked really hard for this and I’m a champion, and you know I’m just proud to be the face of ONE Championship’s atomweight submission grappling champion at the end and being the face of women’s jiu-jitsu.”

Check out what she had to say below:

By winning the world title, Danielle Kelly joined Mikey Musumeci (flyweight) and Kade Ruotolo (lightweight) as ONE submission grappling world champions.