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Danielle Kelly knew that fighting against sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova needed her to push her training regimen even more. Apart from her normal routine, Kelly acquired the help of veteran grappler Enrique Galarza, as well as carefully studying Molchanova’s tapes from her previous fights.
Danielle Kelly, in an interview with ONE Championship, said that grappling against the taller Galarza worked like a simulation in her preparation for Molchanova:
“So he was my coach who I decided to bring up with me, and he teaches at Silver Fox. Going into his classes we studied her a lot, we were doing a lot of back sequences because he does a lot of that too in his matches. He’s very long-legged, I mean he’s taller than her [Molchanova] but she was taller than me and just her body type.”
Kelly, who’s 5'5" in height, used Galarza’s taller frame to help her maneuver against the longer Molchanova and that unorthodox preparation ultimately helped the grappling sensation submit the Russian grappler.
After a few passes, she found herself on the back of Molchanova, and it was there where she eventually locked in the rear-naked choke for the submission win at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November 2022.
Danielle Kelly feels her ONE Championship run helps women’s sports grow
ONE Championship’s decision to push submission grappling into the mainstream sporting landscape was considered a step in the right direction for both men and women’s sports.
Danielle Kelly, for her part, feels that she’s also at the forefront of helping women’s sports grow to levels previously unseen.
The American star was in the first-ever women’s submission grappling match in ONE Championship history when she took on veteran MMA fighter and former world title challenger Mei Yamaguchi at ONE X in March 2022. Though the match ended in a draw, the fight itself was enough to push women’s submission grappling to new heights.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Danielle Kelly expressed her gratitude to the martial arts organization for not only putting her in a distinguished position but helping the sport grow even further.
“You know I’m really thankful for competing for ONE Championship, getting that first call. Being the first women’s jiu-jitsu match for ONE Championship, I think that was a huge statement especially like trying to grow the women’s sports out in the world.”
