Japanese judo star Ayaka Miura faces a tough test in her next match, but she isn't doing anything special to prepare for grappling expert Danielle Kelly.
Miura will be making her submission grappling debut – and it won't be a warm-up – as she faces one of the top names in the sport. Even so, the 32-year-old told Sportskeeda MMA that she isn't doing anything different in her preparations:
"Nothing special. I know she’s a great grappler but I’ll prepare as usual and I will do what I have to do."
Prior to making the transition to submission grappling, Ayaka Miura amassed a 4-3 record under ONE Championship. She picked up victories over Laura Balin, Samara Santos, Maira Mazar, and Rayane Bastos.
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Danielle Kelly feels ready for the unique challenge that is Ayaka Miura
Danielle Kelly is entering her bout with Ayaka Miura having submitted her previous opponent. Despite Miura being slightly bigger and possessing a judo background, the jiu-jitsu star feels ready for the challenge. She told The MMA Superfan:
“It is catchweight, and I’ve been kind of used to competing against bigger girls, which I stopped for a while. I’ve seen her fight, she’s really good. And I think taking this match also brings a lot of eyes to it.”
Kelly added:
“Obviously, she’s a very good judo black belt, all her finishes are pretty much the same thing... Going into this match, I think she’s training with [Masakazu] Imanari and even Mei Yamaguchi was training with her. But I did do a lot of fixups from that first match, so I’m curious to see what Ayaka has for me.”
Danielle Kelly has competed and beaten some of the top grapplers in the sport, including Cynthia Calvillo, Roxanne Modafferi, and Carla Esparza.
Be sure to tune in to ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24 to watch Ayaka Miura challenge rising star Danielle Kelly in a catchweight submission grappling match, live from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Fans in North America can catch all the action from the event on Prime Video with an active Amazon subscription.
Check out Danielle Kelly's full interview with The MMA Superfan below: