Danielle Kelly Clarifies Reason Behind ONE Championship Release

Danielle Kelly Clarifies Reason Behind ONE Championship Release

After Danielle Kelly’s surprise release from ONE Championship, different stories were floating around for why she was released. Kelly made a vlog on YouTube to clear the air on why she was released. 

At first, Kelly was happy being part of ONE and happy with being with the constant matches that she was being given. However, as the years went on, Kelly was given fewer offers despite never turning down a match.

Danielle was never told why the volume of matches dissipated, and expressed frustration about this lack of work.

“The agreement was just competing a lot and having like four or five matches a year and then that’s kind of what I signed up for.”- Danielle Kelly.

In her last match with the organization, Kelly said she was pressured to take the match and the matchmakers told her that refusing to accept the match would result in an indefinite wait for her next match.

“I was kind of like talked into taking the match because it was brought to me from the matchmaker, saying if I didn’t take the match, I wouldn’t know when the next time I was competing.”- Kelly.

Despite taking the match, Danielle still faced a long layoff. This resulted in Kelly and her manager coming to ONE with her frustrations.

They asked ONE what their future plans were for Kelly and wanted to know if it was better to be released since she was getting offers to compete in other organizations.

To Kelly’s surprise, ONE then notified her that she was being released by the organization.

“When I asked for matches and they were making decisions (one and matchmakers) of my grappling career and getting offers from other promotions, I asked when I was competing next, and they apparently had no plans. So we only SUGGESTED a release.”- Danielle Kelly.

Being a young and talented grappler, Kelly will likely find a new home and be actively competing again soon. Watch her full vlog below.