“That's more motivation” – Danielle Kelly on her mindset against Jessa Khan knowing she beat her before

Newly minted ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly has successfully exacted sweet revenge against her former tormentor Jessa Khan after a unanimous decision victory at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29.

Kelly waited for over two years to even their head-to-head matchup because Khan previously beat her in February 2021, also by points. The 27-year-old American made an appearance on the Chewjitsu Podcast and shared that her loss to the 22-year-old added more motivation coming into the match.

The Silver Fox BJJ representative has shut down anyone who is not in favor of her approach to include that loss as a motive for the showdown and said:

“People think like ‘Oh just don't look at social media’ or like ‘Don't worry about like who's beaten you’. Yeah, to a certain extent like competing like you want to beat the person that's beaten you in the past that's more motivation.”

It was Kelly’s third straight victory in the world’s largest martial arts organization and by far the most important one since making her promotional debut in 2022. She drew her first match with Mei Yamaguchi in March 2022 at ONE: X, before beating Mariia Molchanova, Ayaka Miura, and Khan.

Kelly is not keen on having an immediate rematch with the Cambodian-American athlete because she believes that she was able to dominate her enough during their second meeting. Also, she thinks that Khan needs to earn her way back into world title contention by winning multiple bouts against other contenders.

The replay of ONE Fight Night 14 is available anytime on demand for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.