Danielle Kelly admits she felt the world was against her in world title match against Jessa Khan

Danielle Kelly’s quest for redemption against Jessa Khan went beyond their match inside the circle.

The American grappling star ultimately achieved her goal of defeating her old tormentor when she scored a unanimous decision win over Khan for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion at ONE Fight Night 14.

In one of the most emotional wins in ONE Championship history, Kelly broke down in tears after she held the 26-pound golden belt. While some may attribute her tears to the sheer magnitude of her win, Kelly battled tremendous adversity leading up to her fight against Khan.

In an interview with the Chewjitsu Podcast, Kelly detailed how the doubters nearly took a toll on her psyche heading into Singapore.

Kelly said:

“But it's more like going into this match there was a lot of people saying like, 'Jessa is going to tear Danielle, she's gonna just drive by Danielle, like, Danielle Kelly is okay but like' Jessa is this world champion.'”

Khan once beat Kelly under the Who’s Number One banner in 2021, and that bitter memory stayed with the Philadelphia native until their fated rematch in September this year.

The two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts were largely away from each other during those two years, with Kelly making her name in ONE Championship and Khan tearing through international competitions and the IBJJF.

Khan continued to collect medals for Cambodia and even claimed a gold medal in the IBJJF world championships. Kelly, meanwhile, was taking wins over Mariia Molchanova and Ayaka Miura inside the circle.

There’s no official word of what’s next for Kelly, but it's not a ridiculous idea if she would defend her newly won belt against Khan in a rematch in the future.

Watch Kelly's entire interview below: