ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion Danielle Kelly is preparing for her first title defense against Brazilian star Mayssa Bastos.

However, despite her current status as a global superstar, Kelly’s journey to the top wasn’t without its challenges.
In a recent interview with ONE FC, the Philadelphia native opened up about her difficult childhood marked by bullying:

I got the new-kid bully syndrome.

Being in fifth grade, a lot of kids that grew up together, they were together from preschool or kindergarten to that time.
Then, I moved to a new high school… And pretty much at that point, people already had their cliques or their friends.

So, it was hard for me to even have five friends.

Kelly’s experience with bullying extended beyond name-calling – she also faced physical attacks.
As a shy and undersized girl, she became an easy target for bullies:

I was always just worried about stuff like that.
I couldn’t be a normal kid and talk about recess.

I couldn’t talk about the new makeup products that came out during that time.
I couldn’t talk about any of that.

I was just worried about, well, hopefully, I don’t get beat up today.

Kelly found her refuge in sports, particularly Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling, which she began in middle school:

Over time, I was creating friends and in a good environment from the sports.
So that kept me going and kept me motivated and busy. I’m just distracted, not thinking about school stuff.

That really helped me a lot, focusing on competing when I was a kid, just because of good people that wanted to see me succeed.

I think that’s why I’m still sticking with Jiu-Jitsu – because it’s my escape.

 

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