"Always working" - Danielle Kelly galvanizes grip strength in the confines of a cave

ONE Championship recently shared a clip Danielle Kelly from her trip to the caves in Denver, Colorado. They praised the jiu-jitsu phenom with the caption:

“Working that grip strength 😎 @daniellekellybjj”

To which Danielle Kelly replied:

“ 😂🙌 always working”

Check out the Instagram post below:

The 5’5” submissions grappler is maintaining a healthy balance between work and play while traveling the world. At first glance, who would think that she’s actually strength training?

According to CNN health, activities such as bouldering and rock climbing are indeed beneficial for overall cardiovascular health, increasing upper body strength, stamina, memory, and problem-solving skills.

Athletes and jiu-jitsu wrestlers often do some cross training, such as running, jogging, swimming, cycling and more. Cross training doesn't rely on weights to supplement conditioning and strength training.

Rock climbing is especially unique for judo grapplers because it “improves grip, forearm, and overall upper body strength. As well as all other areas of combat, be it on the feet, in the clinch, or on the ground.” (ONE Championship)

So although it may appear that Kelly is having fun, you know she’s not lying when she says she’s ‘always working’.

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Who could be next for Danielle Kelly?

Could we possibly see a rematch between Danielle Kelly and the Japanese MMA veteran, Mei Yamaguchi?

At ONE: ‘X’, the 26 year-old American had multiple opportunities for a submission against Yamaguchi. However, the veteran managed to go the entire distance.

The grappling bout ended with a draw because after 12 minutes, neither fighter was able to submit the other. Kelly won $50,000 for her dominant performance.

WIth no hint of a rematch, and the submission grappling roster still in its development stages, it would be interesting to see Kelly face an opponent like “The Indian Tigress,” Ritu Phogat.

Phogat is 7-2-0 and comes with an impressive wrestling background. She's recently been training with the best grapplers like Mikey Musumeci at Evolve MMA to strengthen her grappling and jiu-jitsu skills. It will be a grappling match to watch and a great experience for both fighters to really test their ground game.