Danielle Kelly on winning ONE world title: “Just like Mikey Musumeci”

American submission grappling phenom Danielle Kelly is seeking career validation. Kelly she believes she can achieve it by winning the ONE Championship world title.

In fact, Kelly wants to follow in reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci’s footsteps and become the face of women’s jiu-jitsu in ONE Championship.

Kelly can move one step closer to achieving that goal if she wins her next fight.

The American BJJ star is set to face former adversary, Cambodian-American 2023 IBJJF world champion Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video. The winner will be crowned the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world champion.

ONE Fight Night 14 broadcasts live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Friday, September 29th.

Speaking in a recent guest appearance on Morning Kombat, Kelly talked about wanting to do what Musumeci has done and follow a similar career path.

Kelly said:

“It’s a big stepping stone, it’s a huge accomplishment. If I beat a world champion, there should be no excuses after that. I might want to go after a world champion MMA fighter just like Mikey Musumeci you know, he’s going against everybody, so I look forward to being that when I beat Jessa.”

Mikey Musumeci is unbeaten in ONE Championship, and is the reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion. He has beaten a slew of high-level opponents, including sambo specialists, BJJ world champions, and MMA fighters.

In fact, Musumeci himself is set to return to action at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video, when he takes on Japanese MMA legend and former ONE lightweight MMA world champion ‘Tobikan Judan’ Shinya Aoki.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all ONE Fight Night events live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video.