Danielle Kelly looking for a grappling bout with Angela Lee

03 April 2022

Danielle Kelly made an impressive promotional debut in ONE Championship recently. The American fought to a draw against ONE Championship veteran Mei Yamaguchi in a submission grappling match and now, she has her eyes set on the ONE Atomweight champion Angela Lee.

Speaking to SCMP MMA recently, Kelly noted that it would be great to have a grappling bout with Angela Lee.

“She’s [Hirata] a judo black belt so I’m not really sure what’s her grappling background, but just from her MMA fights [I saw that] she’s had really good submissions. I also saw Angela Lee pull off a good twister attempt - I’ve been working on those, I love those. So it’d be cool to have a match with her. She’s been fighting and grappling for a while and she’s a black belt as well,” said Kelly (h/t Sportskeeda).

Angela is coming off a huge title defense against Stamp Fairtex at ONE X and has expressed her interest in fighting Seo Hee Ham next. Seo Hee Ham, meanwhile, outclassed Denice Zamboanga in her last fight and is currently undefeated in ONE Championship and holds a professional MMA record of 25-8 to her name.

ALSO READ | Danielle Kelly and Mei Yamaguchi fight to a draw at ONE X

Kelly also addressed a potential matchup with Michelle Nicolini and said that Nicolini is a superstar.

“I see a lot of people tagging me and Michelle Nicolini, if she makes 115 pounds [the atomweight limit], I would love to get her. She’s a superstar as well in the grappling world and a veteran. There’s a few other black belts but I can’t really pronounce their names, but those are the few that come on the top of my head,” Kelly added.

ALSO READ | Danielle Kelly interested in Rose Namajunas match after win over Carla Esparza

What do you think of a potential bout between Kelly and Lee? Let us know in the comment section of the article below.