"I was never satisfied" - Danielle Kelly seeking even more in her ONE debut

Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace and grappling phenom Danielle Kelly is making her debut at ONE X. She has competed in grappling competitions at the highest levels for years. Now 26, she will step into the ONE Championship cage in a grappling match.

Ahead of her March 26 promotional debut, the young grappler sat down for an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda. She spoke defeating much older and more experienced grapplers:

"The times when I would sign up for tournaments a lot and I would be like, 13, or 14 years old, I’d go against these women who are ... [in their] 30s or older. I'll be like a white belt or still a junior... And I'd be going against these higher-level women. I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of, for a while. And I just like how it challenged me, whether it's winning or losing. Even when I won matches, I still felt like I had a lot to improve on. I was never satisfied."

Some people thrive when the odds are stacked against them. Facing larger opponents with more experience than herself, Kelly said it's a great place where she feels comfortable:

"It's a great feeling... And I definitely had some of those where... I'm just like this smaller opponent, younger.... I actually kind of can recall this one time. I don't think she fights anymore. But yeah, she'll always be hyped to go against me. And you know, it would just be funny. Like, I'm just a young kid at that time."

Kelly may be a jiu-jitsu expert and teacher today, but in the past, she struggled with social skills. Martial arts was an area where she was able to improve on them:

"It helped me with my social skills a lot. And right now I'm traveling around teaching, helping others, meeting new people. The sport has helped me a lot with my social skills. I still get a little shy, but I definitely have been working on myself and my public speaking. And it makes me feel good that I can help people to make them feel good, and feel confident with their jiu-jitsu, and help them with self-defense."

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Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Danielle Kelly debuts against Mei Yamaguchi

Danielle Kelly will have her hands full at ONE X as she debuts against the much more experienced Mei Yamaguchi.

With years of competitive grappling experience, Kelly still has fewer years of competing than her opponent Yamaguchi. The Tokyo-born fighter Yamaguchi made her MMA debut in 2007 when Kelly was only 12 years old.

Since then, Yamaguchi has had a total of 36 MMA bouts plus some time in grappling competitions.

Danielle Kelly and Yamaguchi will share the ONE Championship cage at ONE X in a grappling competition.