Taylor started training in boxing, when she first got on with the Sheriff's Department in 2010, as she believed she needed to know some self-defense for her job. After struggling to find boxing matches to compete, she moved her focus to MMA, and she began to add wrestling and jiu-jitsu into her training. She was encouraged by her coach to try on MMA competitions and fell in love with the sport, where she fought a total of 5 amateur fights with record of 4 wins and 1 loss, paving the path to her MMA career [2]
She joined King of the Cage (KOTC) promotion for 2 years, from March 2014 to March 2016. She picked up all first five bouts and captured women's strawweight division championship from Glena Avila. However, she did not manage to defend her title against Jamie Colleen, but was able to reclaim the title by TKO from Colleen in the rematch in KOTC: Night of the Champion on 5 March 2016,[4] and soon later she joined Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2016.
Despite her small stature, 5 feet 0 inches, she has above average power for the strawweight division. She has the ability to power in with a right hand knockout punch, where she would face fighters who have reach and height over her that can control her from outside and on the clinch.[5]
She does conditioning at Chain Fitness and trains striking at Saekson Muay Thai under Julio Trana.[6]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
2013–2014
She had five amateur fights in both strawweight and flyweight divisions, from May 2013 to January 2014, under KOTC and Tuff-Nuff promotions, with four wins against Lena Hellqvist, Chelsea Lewis, Rachael Smith and Samantha Hester, and one loss to Wendy Julian.[2]
King of the Cage
2014
Danielle made her professional career debut in the Flyweight division (125 lb) of KOTC, facing Maia Kahaunaele-Stevenson at KOTC: Beaten Path main card, in California, securing a unanimous decision win in 3 round bout.[2][4]
She was up against Jillian Lybarger on March 26, 2014, on her second fight in Arizona at KOtC: Alliance. The bout was refereed by Mike Beltran. She won by TKO (punches).[2]
Danielle submitted Nikki Lowe with an armbar on round 1 on August 7, 2014, on KOTC: Point of Impact in California.[2]
On her 4th professional fight, she secured a unanimous win decision over Maria Andaverde at KOTC: Battle For The Belt in California.[2]
2015
On 12 February 2015, Taylor was granted a Strawweight Championship fight facing Glena Avila, and stole a split decision win with Herb Dean as the referee on KOTC: Short Fuse and crowned the- KOTC Strawweight champion.[2]
Danielle lost her first title defense five months later to Jamie Colleen, where she was knocked out on August 29, 2017, at KOTC Bitter Rivals in California on round 4.[2]
After her last loss, Taylor made a comeback with a TKO win against Calie Cutler in Las Vegas on KOTC: Sinister Intention event on October 17, 2015, with the record of 6–1–0 in 2016.[2]
2016
Danielle started her 2016 fight on March 5 on KOTC: Night of Champions in California and managed to reclaimed the 15 Ib strawweight title from Jamie Colleen at 5th round with TKO punches.[2]
On UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Lobov at Nashville, United States Dannielle faced Jessica Penne ( 12-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) on the preliminary card on 22 April 2017. She secured a win with unanimous decision, outpointing with scores of 29-28 across the board from the judges, where John McCarthy was the referee of the bout.[4][2]
Taylor faced Zhang Weili on August 4, 2018, at UFC 227.[11] She lost the fight by unanimous decision.[12]
On August 30, Taylor was released from the UFC.[13]
Post-UFC career
After the release from the UFC, Taylor signed with Invicta FC. She made her promotional debut against Montserrat Ruiz at Invicta FC 33 on December 15, 2018. She won the fight via unanimous decision.[14]
She then entered the Invicta Phoenix Series 1 Strawweight tournament, facing Juliana Lima in the quarterfinals. She lost the bout via split decision and was eliminated from the tournament.[15]
In late 2020, Taylor signed with Xtreme Fighting Championships and made her promotional debut against Jessica Aguilar at XFC 43 on November 11, 2020, winning by split decision.[16]
Taylor faced Emily Ducote for the vacant Invicta FC Strawweight Championship at Invicta FC 44: A New Era on August 27, 2021.[17] Her bout with Ducote headlined the first pay-per-view in Invicta FC history.[18] Taylor lost the fight by a first-round knockout. She was first stopped in her tracks with a right straight, before being floored with a head kick.[19]
Taylor faced Liz Tracy at Invicta FC 46 on March 9, 2022.[20] At the weigh-ins, Liz Tracy missed weight for her bout, weighing in at 117.8 pounds, 1.8 pounds over the strawweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Tracy were fined 25 percent of their purses, which went to Taylor.[21] She lost the bout via unanimous decision.[22]
