WATCH: Danielle Kelly puts in the hard work against bigger grapplers ahead of possible ONE world title defense
Danielle Kelly is putting in the work ahead of her first world title defense in ONE Championship. The reigning ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion shared some snippets of the gym work she's been doing against larger and physically stronger grapplers on Instagram.
There are no official announcements from ONE Championship on her next match, but Kelly has been staying in shape for potentially the biggest test at this point in her career.
Danielle Kelly posted:
"The life of being a 115er 💪 being pushed every day 🎥 @tmaxmadeit."
Kelly has been on a roll since joining ONE Championship in 2022. After settling for a draw against Japanese MMA veteran Mei Yamaguchi at ONE X, Kelly ran roughshod of the competition and racked up three straight wins.
She first scored an impressive rear-naked choke submission finish over sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova before she took a unanimous decision win over former ONE women's strawweight MMA world title contender Ayaka Miura.
Kelly's biggest win of her career, though, took place at ONE Fight Night 14 when she exacted revenge over old tormentor Jessa Khan.
The IBJJF world champion held a win over Kelly when they met at Who's Number One in 2021, but their dramatic rematch would go the American star's way. Kelly secured a clutch submission catch late in their fight to take the unanimous decision win and the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title.
Danielle Kelly hints at possible world title defense
There haven't been any official announcements from ONE Championship, but Danielle Kelly already alluded to a potential defense of her ONE atomweight submission grappling world title.
In a recent Instagram post, Kelly wrote that she would be the underdog in her next match despite holding ONE Championship gold:
"Walking into my next match knowing I'm maybe the biggest underdog [for] my next match 😌," wrote Kelly on her caption.