History will be witnessed on September 29 at ONE Fight Night 14 as the world’s largest martial arts organization will crown its first-ever ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world champion.
Danielle Kelly will welcome familiar foe Jessa Khan for her ONE Championship debut to determine the first women’s grappling world champion of the division.
The two BJJ black belts are quite familiar with each other. Wwo years ago, in February 2021, Khan scored a decision win over Kelly in their first meeting. Following that encounter, they went on different routes to stardom.
Kelly secured her roster spot in ONE and has since competed in three grappling bouts. Of those three matches, she won two, one by submission against Mariia Molchanova and the other via decision versus Ayaka Miura.
The Silver Fox BJJ standout also fought to a draw against Mei Yamaguchi back in her promotional debut.
On the other hand, the younger Khan continued to compete in various tournaments until she won gold medals in the 2022 IBJFF Pan American Championships and the 2023 IBJFF World Championships.
Because of that initial loss to Khan and her gold medal credentials, Kelly feels like she is the underdog heading into the world title fight, but this doesn’t mean she is fazed by it.
In fact, in her recent ONE Championship interview, Kelly said she is confident of her chances against the Cambodian-American by saying:
“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.”
Apart from becoming the first women’s submission grappling world champion in ONE Championship, the 27-year-old eyes revenge from her former tormentor to even out their head-to-head matchup at one apiece.
ONE Fight Night 14 is free for Prime Video subscribers in North America.
