Danielle Kelly is never afraid to speak her mind, and most recently, she has been sharing her views on a contest that had the entire submission grappling world talking.
At ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video, flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci defended his belt against Gantumur Bayanduuren via a dominant decision. While Musumeci wasn’t able to get the submission finish, it wasn’t due to a lack of trying, as he dealt significant damage to his opponent’s legs.
In one of the hardest contests to watch in ONE’s history, fans were forced to look away as Bayanduuren’s limbs twisted in ways that should never be seen. Through an act of toughness and stubbornness, the challenger refused to tap and, as a result, will likely be out of competition for a long-time due to his injuries.
Danielle Kelly weighed in with her thoughts on Bayanduuren’s decision not to tap out, sharing some sympathy for him in an interview with SCMP MMA:
“Well, I think it’s not smart. I think on his part, I feel like he was trying to be a little cocky. Like it was already two minutes into the match, so I guess he felt like, ‘Oh, I won’t tap too fast. Let me fight out of this leglock.’”
She added:
“So I feel bad for him but it’s hard to not feel bad because you know how your leg was going in different directions. Yeah, so I hope he has a speedy recovery.”
Watch the full interview below:
“It’s going to be interesting” – Danielle Kelly laments competing in a new environment
Submission grappler Danielle Kelly has had the opportunity to demonstrate her skills on a huge platform thanks to ONE Championship. Competing alongside elite competitors from various disciplines in martial arts, this bigger and brighter stage comes with new challenges for the 27-year-old.
After adapting to using her skills inside the circle, which already changes things up significantly for submission grappling, she will need to once again evolve for her next contest that will take place inside a boxing ring.
ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video will be held at the iconic Lumpinee boxing stadium in Bangkok. In an interview with the South China Morning Post’s Tom Taylor, Danielle Kelly spoke about how the change in environment may affect her:
“I was like, ‘Oh, okay. It’s pretty interesting.’ I’ve been working on cage-wall stuff. It’s in my grappling game. So from a ring, I mean, I was just grappling in a ring earlier this morning, before, with another girl. It’s kind of different. I don’t know the rules exactly. Because for jiu-jitsu it’s like, you know, if you watched the first match, Mei put me against the cage, to make me not make space or move my hips. So the cage kind of blocked that. So what are the rules for the ring? Are they going to just push my head to the side? Or can I keep going? It’s going to be interesting.”
Despite the changes, Danielle Kelly is looking forward to the challenge that is presented:
“Yeah, I’d be ready for whatever. They told me like a month out so I’ll prepare for it.”
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