Danielle Kelly “really excited” to shoot her shot at ONE Championship gold against old rival Jessa Khan

Danielle Kelly | Image courtesy of ONE
Danielle Kelly | Image courtesy of ONE

ONE Championship's grappling superstar Danielle Kelly will be fighting for gold for the first time in her career at ONE Fight Night 14. On September 29, the dangerous BJJ blackbelt will be stepping inside the Circle for the inaugural ONE women's atomweight submission grappling world title.

Across the other end of the mats from her will be young prodigy Jessa Khan. The Cambodian-American BJJ blackbelt, who will be making her promotional debut on the same night, is an IBJJF world champion and former Southeast Asian, European, and Asian Games gold medalist.

Danielle Kelly posted a hype video ahead of her world championship debut, saying:

"Just under four weeks til I go to Singapore 🇸🇬 and compete for the @onechampionship atomweight grappling title. I'm really excited to be back in there soon. Thank you to those who have been there for me ☺️😮‍💨💪🏼"

Kelly has had quite the run in ONE Championship since debuting in the promotion last year. She made an impactful debut by going the distance with Mei Yamaguchi. The performance, despite producing a draw, earned the American BJJ blackbelt a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship.

Eager to make up for her previous performance, Danielle Kelly handily submitted Sambo specialist Mariia Molchanova at ONE on Prime Video 4 just a few months later. The grappler won her second performance bonus from the promotion.

In her most recent outing, Kelly participated in one of the most exciting and competitive submission grappling matches in ONE Championship. Against Japanese MMA standout and judo master Ayaka Miura, Kelly had to rally late in the match to overcome a point deficit and ultimately win via decision.

Now, the American grappling star is at the precipice of history as she will be competing for the inaugural women's submission grappling world title in ONE Championship.

Jessa Khan has already had a win over Danielle Kelly in 2021. This will make the ONE Championship star even more motivated to walk away with gold at ONE Fight Night 14.

ONE Fight Night 14 goes down on September 29 at Singapore Indoor Stadium. It will be available to watch live and free for North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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