ONE Fight Night 14 will crown new atomweight champions on Friday, September 29. In the main event, Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee collide for the ONE Interim Women’s Atomweight MMA World Championship. However, ONE Championship will crown its first submission grappling queen earlier in the night.
Danielle Kelly and Jessa Khan will compete for the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship in a highly-anticipated rematch of their 2021 meeting. On that night, Khan was the better woman. However, Kelly believes she was not mentally prepared for the moment two years ago.
“I was too much into the media. I was too much into like, ‘I’m really like, nervous. I’m nervous to like go against a high-level grappler.’ And I guess she was one of the first few that I went against, and you know, now my mindset is really different,” Kelly told ONE.
The title match is not only important to Kelly for her shot at gold. She wants redemption. Khan has been at the top of her list for some time, and she has called for the rematch on the global stage.
Having her wish granted, the Philadelphia-born grappler is studying Khan’s game even more intently. While Kelly believes she has grown since their first meeting, she feels Khan is mostly the same. Feeling she is far superior, Kelly is determined to get the win back.
“I feel like I know her game really well. My exchanges, my defense, my offense is gonna be way ahead of her and whatever she gives me, you know, I’m gonna give her something back. I train with really tough people, really tough girls. I have an idea what she’s gonna throw at me, and I’ll be ready. I think she’s kind of the same as last time, so we’ll see,” Kelly explained.
Khan has been on a great run as of late. She won the 2023 IBJJF World Championship in June. Knowing all of this, Kelly enters with an underdog mindset.
“I feel like I train with the best, and I’m gonna prove that you don’t have to be a World Champion to be better than anyone else. You don’t have to have a bunch of titles. She’s probably the favorite in this match, and I’m gonna prove that you know, I’m not a World Champ, but I think I can submit her. She’s beatable. So that’s what I’m gonna prove,” Kelly said.
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In mentally preparing for the rematch, Kelly is also thinking of how she wants to pick up the win. While a choke would be fine, she is thinking of a more special way to claim the inaugural title. Either way, Kelly wants to make Khan tap out in Singapore.
“I really want a twister because I know she got twistered before, so I’d really like to do that for the first grappling match, to pull off a twister on her or, you know, take her back and choke her out. One of the two,” Kelly stated.
ONE Fight Night 14 airs live on Prime Video on Friday, September 29. The action begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The event is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers based in the U.S. and Canada.
