Danielle Kelly says Ayaka Miura may be her toughest opponent so far

Danielle Kelly expects a much tougher challenge when she returns to the circle later this month at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video. The submission grappling sensation is slated to face mixed martial artist Ayaka ‘Zombie’ Miura in a grappling bout on February 24.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Kelly said she expects a good showing from Miura, but is nonetheless confident that she will walk away with another spectacular finish:

“I think it'd be definitely challenging, it won't be like my last one. I think that she'll be tougher to try to submit. I think I'll be ahead of her in the last scrambles and eventually get to finish, so I think overall, I think me and her can really put on a good show.”

Holding an impressive 11-4 record in MMA, Ayaka Miura is not necessarily known as a submission grappling specialist. However, the Judo black belt is a veritable submission machine with a 100% finish rate in ONE Championship, with all her victories coming by way of tap-outs. That statistic is more than enough to have fans glued to the screen when Danielle Kelly makes her third walk to the circle.

In her last appearance, Kelly bested sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova at ONE on Prime Video 4. She only needed 2:15 to submit the Russian standout via a rear-naked choke.

Catch the full interview below:

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Danielle Kelly is thankful for Mariia Molchanova agreeing to step inside the circle

Danielle Kelly’s 2022 was by far the most successful year in the 27-year-old’s combat sports career. Signing with ONE Championship, Kelly made her promotional debut at ONE X in March. She delivered a strong showing against Mei Yamaguchi, which earned her a $50,000 bonus from the ONE CEO.

Kelly closed out her year with a win over sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November. It only took Kelly 2:15 to submit the Russian grappler via rear-naked choke.

Despite the quick finish, Kelly was appreciative of Molchanova, who stepped out of her comfort zone against Kelly:

“Yes, I think it lasted two minutes. But afterwards I said ‘thank you for taking this match.’ I believe I don’t know if I had like other girls lined up and she stepped out of her comfort zone to take this match, you know, a grappling match. So I respected her for that”.

Danielle Kelly will attempt to repeat her impressive performance against a bigger and arguably stronger opponent at ONE Fight Night 7.