“I’ll always love teaching” - Submission grappling queen Danielle Kelly on her love for helping next generation

The combat sports stars of today owe a lot to the ones of today as they helped lay the groundwork for the new generation to reach even greater heights than their predecessors.

Among the most recognizable stars of today is ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, native holds an impressive record of 22 wins throughout her career, three of them happening in the world’s largest martial arts promotion, with her rear-naked choke of Mariia Molchanova being her first finish.

At 28 years old, Kelly is already making time out of her training to help the next generation fulfill their own potential, as she recently shared on Instagram:

“As time goes on and I teach more, I really enjoy it. I’ll never understand some athletes/fighters who don’t like to help others. Seeing people get a technique or hit it from something you teach is a great feeling.”

She continued:

“I’ll always love teaching, though I wasn’t ever good at it. Just like schooling, people have different ways on learning. for me I needed special tutoring because I couldn’t pay attention in class to save my life."

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Who might Danielle Kelly face next?

One of the slickest submission grapplers within the promotion, Kelly always wants to face the very best in the world. Though she is not currently slated to fight soon, she already has an opponent in mind.

This past December, Tammi Musumeci, the older sister of ONE flyweight submission grappling king Mikey Musumeci, won gold at the IBJJF No-Gi World Championships 2023 in a grueling two-day tourney.

Kelly congratulated Musumeci on her success and in the same breath, called her out to a super fight in the 125-pound division.