Danielle Kelly recalls her first loss to Jessa Khan: “I wasn’t clicking at the time”

Two years after her loss to Jessa Khan in their first meeting in February 2021, Danielle Kelly is still thinking about that setback from the 21-year-old when they crossed paths in a no-gi tournament in California. Khan came away with the decision victory to lead their head-to-head matchup.

Since then, the two have forged a different path to stardom, as Kelly joined ONE Championship and won two of her three bouts under the world’s largest martial arts organization. Meanwhile, Khan won the gold medals in the prestigious IBJFF Pan American Championships in 2022 and the IBJFF World Championships in 2023.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship commentator Mitch Chilson via Instagram Live, Kelly looked back to their first bout and revealed that she wasn’t clicking during that time. She even pointed out a few examples of that poor performance.

The 27-year-old said:

"You can just tell that something there that wasn't really clicking, and you know every time she got me in exchange, she just got me in either a k-guard or I believe it was closed guard to attack for knee bars, 50-50 scrambles and then come up first to try to take my back. I just felt like I wasn't really clicking at the time."

Because of their solid credentials and winning streaks, the pair of BJJ aces were once again pitted against each other. Kelly will be appearing in her fourth match in ONE Championship, while Khan will make her promotional debut on September 29 at ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video.

This bout, which is about to go down inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, will be a historic one as it will determine ONE Championship’s inaugural atomweight submission grappling world champion. Kelly aims to not just capture the golden belt but also avenge her bitter loss to Khan.

ONE Fight Night 14 will air live on US Primetime free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in North America.