Danielle Kelly admits Ayaka Miura was a tougher challenge than Mei Yamaguchi

Danielle Kelly was in another tough contest at ONE Fight Night 7 when she faced Japan’s Ayaka Miura.

A lot was made of Miura’s grappling credentials ahead of the contest despite the fact that the MMA contender had not competed under ONE Championship’s submission grappling ruleset before.

With her judo background and submission threats, Miura proved to be a tough challenge for Danielle Kelly who got her hand raised following a closely contested match-up.

Following the ONE Fight Night 7, Kelly reflected on the match-up and credited her opponent with being the toughest test she has faced inside the Circle.

In her post-event interview, Kelly said:

“I guess I'd rank her higher, I guess number one so far, then Mei [Yamaguchi] would be number two. They're both pretty tough. I mean, at least Ayaka was engaging. Mei wasn't really engaging the first time. I think out of the whole thing; I think the rules kind of shocked me because I kept being reset when I was engaging.”

Both Miura and Mei Yamaguchi came into their matches with the 27-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist hoping to use their MMA backgrounds to their advantage. Ayaka had far more success with this and was even able to threaten Kelly with some submission attempts.

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Danielle Kelly shares what it was like getting caught in the ‘Ayaka Lock’

Danielle Kelly was well aware of the biggest threat that her opponent Ayaka Miura brought to the table at ONE Fight Night 7.

Miura’s signature ‘Ayaka Lock’ has helped her to pick up four submission wins inside the Circle whilst competing in MMA.

In her preparations for her opponent’s specific Judo skillset, Kelly made sure to prepare herself for this position so that nothing would be a surprise should she find herself caught up in the ‘Ayaka Lock’.

Her specific training ahead of the bout paid off during the contest as Danielle Kelly found herself in the exact scarf hold position that Miura has been so dangerous from but she was able to escape the threat.

Following the event, Kelly reflected on how she dealt with her opponent’s signature move in her post-event interview:

“I've been drilling since my last match. I've been drilling a lot of armbar escapes and blocks like that. She would go for it, but I think the most annoying or painful thing was the squeeze on my neck or my head. My arm was pretty flexible, so every time, I just kept turning my elbow down. She would just kind of extend this or like in my elbow.

"Yeah, I think the only really annoying thing was my head was getting squeezed, and it was her hip and her arm on my head squeezing; that wasn't fun. I felt that a lot. My arm was fine. I'm just really dead.”

Watch the full interview below: