Danielle Kelly revisits pivotal juncture in Jessa Khan fight: “Once I escaped this back, she’s done”

ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly knew experience would be on her side when she collided with Jessa Khan in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29.

Her claims of having an advantage inside the Circle and a mental edge proved to be true as she leveled the scores against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion in a high-paced contest inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Though she had to seemingly overcome some storm en route to the 26 pounds of gold, Danielle Kelly revealed that she was in no trouble at all in the single-round affair.

Specifically referring to Jessa Khan’s back take and catch attempt, the Silver Fox BJJ affiliate had this to say during a recent appearance on Chewjitsu Podcast.

The 26-year-old said:

“So right there, when I was scrambling with her, it's kind of like, you know, once I escaped this back, she's done. And that's kind of what happened. From then on, I knew it was going to be on me to control the match.”

Watch the full podcast episode here:

True enough, Danielle Kelly never seemed to be in any real trouble after surviving Khan’s rather brief spell of dominance.

The Philadelphia native survived her opposite number’s submission attempts before scrambling to a kneebar and toehold variation to see off the match and become the inaugural divisional queen.

With three wins from four promotional outings against Khan, Ayaka Miura, and Mariia Molchanova, the BJJ black belt has firmly established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the submission grappling realm.

Watch her title-winning performance over Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 via replay on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel. North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can relive the entire female-led bill.