Jessa Khan has had a tremendous 2023 to date. However, she is hoping to add ONE Championship‘s first-ever ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion to that list on Friday, September 29. Khan will take on Danielle Kelly at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video to determine the inaugural champion.
But it is not the first time the two have met. In their first meeting in 2021, Khan won via decision. The 21-year-old credits her nonstop attacks for the prior win over Kelly.
“I wasn’t able to submit her, but I was pretty much leading the fight. I was able to hit like 10 different submission attempts, and that’s pretty much what won me the fight. She was mostly just defending,” Khan told ONE.
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That style will blend well with ONE’s global rule set, where the most submission attempts determine a winner if no tap-out occurs. But Khan will be seeking a finish. The Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy product wants to fix what went wrong in her first meeting with Kelly.
“My main goal is to try to get a submission. That kind of bugged me in our fight. The first time, it was 15 minutes. I had more time, but I still wasn’t able to submit her, even though I tried multiple times. So I’m definitely going to try to fix whatever went wrong in that match. That way, I can actually get a submission. That’s something that’s been bugging me,” Khan professed.
Khan wants to assure fans they will not see any stalling come September 29. The Cambodian-American is adamant that her game is pure aggression, which will continue in her title bid. Khan expects to have a standout promotional debut in Singapore.
“I’m just very aggressive, very active, especially with no-gi. People can’t really hold me down. So I feel like that helps out with my game because I just try to move a lot until I find a way to get to either a good position or to get to a submission. You don’t really see any stalling or anything for me – that’s not really part of my game,” the debuting star expressed.
The budding rivalry between the two grappling stars will be an interesting thread heading into the event. Kelly has become a centerpiece of submission grappling’s rise since joining ONE. She is unblemished in three bouts, with two wins and a draw.
But the 21-year-old is not impressed with her performances thus far. Leaning on her experience with the Philadelphia native in the past, Khan does not see much that she can do against her at ONE Fight Night 14. Khan envisions an easy night at the office if she can shut down Kelly’s wrestling.
“To be honest, I don’t really see too much [in Kelly’s game]. Maybe her takedowns. I know in the other match we did, she was able to take me down. So I’d say she has like some pretty good wrestling. She’s very flexible, has good defense. But like I said, for the most part, that’s all I really see,” Khan said.
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.
