Danielle Kelly is quickly becoming one of the most recognizable faces in the BJJ world… And that newly-found popularity has been a unique challenge for her.
She revealed why that’s been the case in a recent interview with ONE Championship:
Yeah, it’s grown on me a lot. In the beginning, I was kind of like, nervous or confused.
Like, why are there cameras all over? I don’t know, I kind of just got used to it. And it’s just kind of like, talking to people.
But Kelly has, nevertheless, been learning how to handle the fame with great success:
I just learned to make eye contact when I talk to people because I didn’t do that before. And I’m also just socially awkward. So it’s kind of me.
But yeah, I mean, at first it was kind of new. But now, it’s my job. So I just learned to get better at interviews.
So when I compete, I can just be more interactive with my interviewers. Yeah, I’m pretty used to it now.
View this post on Instagram
She is also trying to set an example for other female grapplers:
I have to keep a lookout because there are lots of girls and I’m being challenged more at the gym. So I’m just pretty confident in who I go against now. Especially MMA fighters, I think a lot of them, they’re really tough too.
But yeah, it just feels really good to be like the face, because I’m trying to set an example.
