Danielle Kelly vindicated with victory over former tormentor Jessa Khan: “I just proved that I was better”

Newly crowned ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly had a huge chip on her shoulder heading into her highly anticipated rematch with 2023 IBJJF world champion Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 a few weeks ago.

Kelly and Khan locked horns at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video, which took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on September 30th. Kelly ended up winning a unanimous decision, and the inaugural atomweight submission grappling belt.

Speaking on a guest appearance on the Chewjitsu Podcast on YouTube, Kelly recalled having to deal with lots of doubters before her matchup with Khan. The 27-year-old phenom says many people doubted her, as Khan had already beaten her once before.

Kelly was happy to silence her critics with the performance of a lifetime. She said:

“So going into this match with that mindset, a lot was against you and even just I've been in the jiu-jitsu world for almost 20 years. I can tell just by, you know, they'll respect me but it's like ‘Just this Jessica girl is going to run through Danielle."

Kelly added:

"The first time they went against each other yeah’. Going into this match – watch my match – I was different and you know it just kind of I think it just brings more motivation I think. I think with this match, that was where it was at. I just proved that I was better.”

Although Kelly was no doubt victorious in her rematch against Khan, many feel the match was extremely close and rightfully so. The only way to truly settle the score once and for all is for the two women to go at it one more time.

There’s no indication of what’s next for Kelly at the moment, but we don’t mind seeing a third showdown between Danielle Kelly and Jessa Khan.