“Both would be a cool challenge” - Danielle Kelly eyes submission grappling matchup against Stamp, Xiong Jing Nan

Danielle Kelly is interested in grappling against two MMA world champions.

On September 29, Kelly secured a career milestone by defeating Jessa Khan by unanimous decision to become the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion.

Since then, fans have questioned what could be next for the American superstar. There are currently a few options for potential world title contenders who are pure grapplers, but Kelly has been vocal about wanting to test herself against world champions from other sports.

Earlier this week, Kelly answered some fans’ questions on her Instagram story. One person asked her about potentially grappling against the ONE women’s atomweight world champion Stamp Fairtex and the ONE women’s strawweight MMA world champion Xiong Jing Nan:

“Stamp or Jing Nan, do you interested for grappling with?”

Kelly responded by saying:

“Both would be a cool challenge”

Kelly’s Instagram story

Stamp Fairtex and Xiong Jing Nan wouldn’t be the first MMA opponents Danielle Kelly has grappled against during her ONE Championship tenure.

Kelly has also competed against former women’s atomweight MMA world title challenger Mei Yamaguchi and former women’s strawweight MMA world title challenger Ayaka Miura. The American superstar went to a draw against Yamaguchi and defeated Miura by unanimous decision.

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When does Danielle Kelly want to return to action?

On January 27, ONE Championship will travel to Tokyo, Japan, for an action-packed event inside the Ariake Arena. In the main event, Rodtang and Takeru Segawa will go to war in a must-see kickboxing bout.

The only other fight announced for ONE 165 is a lightweight MMA matchup between Shinya Aoki and Sage Northcutt. Therefore, the event has plenty of room for more fights to be added.

Once the announcement was made, Danielle Kelly went to her Instagram story and posted the following message along with the event poster:

“I wanna compete in Japan so bad!!!!! @onechampionship”

Kelly’s Instagram story

It’ll be intriguing to see who Danielle Kelly’s first world title defense is against. There’s a possibility that the previously mentioned MMA world champions are chosen, or ONE could decide to match Kelly against another pure grappler like Tammi Musumeci, who holds a 2-0 promotional record.