Danielle Kelly recalls she and her team “were working on a lot of strategies” preparing for Jessa Khan

Danielle Kelly knew she wasn’t just fighting for a world title when she fought Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 - she was also seeking vindication.

Khan once beat Kelly in 2021 under the Who’s Number One banner, and that loss lit a flame that kept burning inside the American star until their fated rematch in September this year.

Kelly ultimately earned her redemption when she beat Khan via unanimous decision to become the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion at ONE Fight Night 14.

In an interview with the ChewJitsu Podcast, Kelly detailed how she and her team simulated different scenarios to prepare for the IBJJF world champion.

She said:

“We worked on like a lot of scenarios like if she pulls guard, if I pull guard if she somehow wrestles or if I wrestled, how the match was kind of gonna go. So we were working on a lot of strategies off that. But yeah, I think I took like a good two months of preparations in the cage.”

Things started tense between the two and Khan quickly locked Kelly in a standing body triangle lock.

Danielle Kelly, who stood five inches taller than the 5-foot Khan, ended up using her innate strength to bring Khan against the cage.

Although Khan tried her hardest to crank Kelly’s face, no catch was called and Kelly was able to escape.

Following her escape, Kelly scrambled and locked in a tight heel hook and scored a vital catch.

Much like their first encounter, the fight ended up going the distance. This time around, Danielle Kelly got her hand raised after the final bell and had the ONE atomweight submission grappling world title slung over her shoulder.