“That would be cool” - Danielle Kelly would love to train MMA with Demian Maia

Danielle Kelly fangirled when she met Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA legend Demian Maia at the ADCC world competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Although she didn’t participate in the prestigious tournament, Kelly enjoyed watching her fellow teammates from Silver Fox gym compete from the stands. She also got a front-row view of Kade Ruotolo winning the ADCC gold medal and his twin brother Tye Ruotolo winning bronze at absolute weight.

For her part, the Philadelphia native couldn’t help but draw some inspiration from one of her BJJ idols who was also present at the event.

ONE Championship took note of her encounter with Demian Maia and asked her if she would like to train with him someday. Kelly responded:

“That would be cool because I feel like him just coming from a big grappling background, he does really well with adjusting. I know he has more experience in MMA, but the way he uses his jiu-jitsu, he utilizes that in the cage, helps him a lot. He's beaten even jiu-jitsu people and MMA fighters who are focused on striking and wrestling. So you know, I think a lot of people overlook him. He's older now. I mean, he's retired now, I think. He's definitely one of the top guys, so his striking was pretty decent. But his goal was always to work the cage and then work his jiu-jitsu from the cage, take their back, or submit them.”

Danielle Kelly has been vocal about making her transition to MMA as soon as possible. In past interviews, she mentioned having dabbled in the sport during her formative years before jiu-jitsu became her main focus.

From what she’s revealed on her social media pages, Kelly seems to be on track with her development in the all-encompassing sport. But with sambo vs. jiu-jitsu trending at ONE Championship, it won’t be long until Danielle Kelly diverts her attention back to the grappling world to get a piece of that action as well.

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Danielle Kelly impressed by Kade Ruotolo’s achievements at ADCC tournament

Danielle Kelly was impressed by Kade Ruotolo’s performance at the ADCC tournament last month.

As an athlete who has competed in multiple world-class tournaments, Danielle Kelly understands the full extent of Kade’s record-breaking accomplishments. At 19, Kade became the youngest ADCC world champion in the event’s history.

Feeling a sense of pride for her ONE Championship peer, Kelly told ONE:

“[Kade is] putting jiu-jitsu and people his age on the map. It’s pretty impressive. I think he’s on a roll. I’ve been watching him come up, he was losing and then he started to win. He went against my teammate, or old teammates, and won matches. It’s really cool to see his development, coming up over the past year or two.”