Danielle Kelly, one of the best up-and-coming blackbelt female grapplers is set to face Russian multiple Sambo champion Mariia Molchanova for the atomweight submission grappling belt in yet another BJJ vs.Sambo matchup.
Karl “Silverfox” Pravec black belt Danielle Kelly is ready for her second grappling match under the ONE FC banner. In her first outing, Kelly beat the experienced Mei Yamaguchi, earning her first ONE grappling victory and a performance bonus. Technically speaking, Danielle Kelly drew the match but was so obviously dominant that she earned a $50.000 bonus for her performance.
Now, for the first time since March 2022, she is set to enter the ONE cage again, this time to face Russian Sambo champion Mariia Molchanova in a clash of grappling styles, which seems to be a trend in ONE FC at the moment.
Her opponent, Mariia Molchanova is a very experienced grappler, holding two Sambo world titles and several European ones.
The matchup between Danielle Kelly and Mariia Molchanova is yet another in what seems to be a friendly rivalry (for now), instigated by ONE FC, to figure out which grappling style is better, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Sambo.
So far, ONE champion Mikey Musumeci has requested to fight any Sambo world champion and has gotten one such champion to respond to his request, although it is not known whether ONE FC is considering this.
Just a week ago we saw Kade Ruotolo easily defeat a 4x Sambo World champion Uali Kurzhev for the lightweight ONE submission grappling belt. Prior to that match, BJJ black belt Rodrigo Marello submitted Smabo stand-out Ruslan Bagdasarian with the fastest-ever submission in ONE history (via ankle lock).
There is a clear pattern here that ONE CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, is following in trying to determine the best grappling styles, and we’re eager to see where it leads.
Danielle Kelly is well versed in leg locks, given her Renzo Gracie lineage, so that more or less makes her equal in regard to Sambo’s greatest perceived threat to BJJ athletes. Molchanova’s standing prowess will definitely be a test for Kelly, though.
Danielle Kelly is aware of the difference in styles and respects the abilities of Sambo athletes very much telling MMA Super Fan in an interview:
“I mean, I will say if I’m a Sambo person you have to respect the sport of Jiu-Jitsu but I feel like since I’m in Jiu-Jitsu there’s a lot of sambo people saying: “Sambo is much better than Jiu-Jitsu”, or: “Sambo beats Jiu-Jitsu people.”
The bout is set to take place in Singapore, on November 18, as part of ONE on Prime Video 4.
