Jessa Khan reveals why she couldn’t finish Danielle Kelly in their first match: “Some people are really flexible”

Jessa Khan defeated Danielle Kelly in their first encounter but was not able to do it by submission, which she said speaks volume of the abilities of her opponent.

The two submission grappling aces met in February 2021 in an event outside of ONE Championship in the United States. There, the Cambodian-American fighter held off Kelly to win their 15-minute showdown by decision.

In an interview with Alex Wendling on YouTube, Jessa Khan shared what he thought was the reason why she was not able to finish Kelly the first time around, saying:

“I mean I felt like at the time like they were really like tight [my submission attempts], you know, it's just some people are really flexible and that they won't tap to those things or maybe there was something that I have to like adjust in my technique. I'm not sure.”

Check out the interview below:

Jessa Khan has made it known that her inability to finish Danielle Kelly in their first match continues to bug her up to this point, and something she hopes to drive out in their reengagement later this month in Singapore.

They will battle for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video on September 29. The event will go down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and is available live and for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.

It will mark the ONE debut of 21-year-old Khan, who is coming off a gold medal conquest at the 2023 IBJJF World Championship in June.

Danielle Kelly, for her part, has won back-to-back matches, the last one at the expense of Ayaka Miura of Japan in February by unanimous decision.