Ayaka Miura banking on judo skills to beat Danielle Kelly in grappling match

At ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, Ayaka Miura will be competing under ONE Championship’s submission grappling ruleset for the first time, but she isn’t out of her depth.

The Japanese judo specialist will be testing her skills against one of the top grapplers in the promotion, Danielle Kelly. With her MMA experience and strong grappling background, Miura is looking to play to her strengths against Kelly to try and test her in ways she hasn’t encountered before.

In her pre-event interview, Ayaka Miura spoke about her grappling game compared to that of her opponent’s, assessing where she believes she can make the most of what she brings to the table:

“Danielle Kelly is a great fighter, and you know, she is an all-rounder in this submission grappling match. Still, at the same time, Danielle Kelly doesn't have any special techniques because all her skill is at a high level, but that means she doesn't have a specialty. I think my physical strength and the judo skills I use in MMA are better than Danielle's, and I can show it in this grappling match.”

Miura has submitted her opponents in all four of her wins inside the circle. Her judo background allows ‘Zombie’ to secure takedowns and immediately threaten with submissions, with her signature move being a throw into an americana hold.

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Ayaka Miura eyeing potential rematch with strawweight queen Xiong Jing Nan

Ayaka Miura is hoping to gain two key things by taking herself out of her comfort zone to face Danielle Kelly in a submission grappling contest at ONE Fight Night 7.

The former ONE women's strawweight world title challenger will be looking to take the experience of this matchup back with her into MMA to make her an even bigger submission threat. Most importantly, she wants the momentum from staying active so that she can position herself for a rematch with Xiong Jing Nan.

In their first meeting, Miura came up short in attempting to dethrone the reigning women’s strawweight world champion. However, she believes that she has made the right adjustments to make a rematch a different fight.

In her pre-fight interview, Ayaka Miura said:

"My natural weight [is at] atomweight. [But] I really want to challenge [for] the belt [against] Xiong Jing Nan again. I will stay at strawweight for now."

She added:

"It means everything to me. It means everything to me as a lifelong martial artist. So if I can take the belt from Xiong, this is going to be everything. I have to put everything into what I've been doing. This means a lot."

Fans in North America can catch Ayaka Miura and Danielle Kelly in action together with the rest of the ONE Fight Night 7 card on Prime Video this Friday, February 24. The event will air in U.S. primetime live and for free with an active Amazon subscription.

Watch Ayaka Miura's full fight with Xiong Jing Nan below: