Danielle Kelly says playing tourist in Singapore before title fight kept her ‘calm’: “That helped me a lot”

Taking in some of the sights in Singapore helped ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly stay calm ahead of her high-stakes clash with Jessa Khan.

ONE Fight Night 14 saw two new ONE world champions crowned, including Thai fan favorite Stamp Fairtex who claimed the atomweight MMA world title with a third-round knockout of South Korean veteran Ham Seo Hee in the evening’s headliner.

But before Stamp’s triumph, Danielle Kelly etched her name in the history books, earning a unanimous decision victory over former foe Jessa Khan to claim the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling championship.

Looking back on her big win, Kelly revealed that before she stepped into the Circle at Singapore Indoor Stadium, she took in some of the tourist attractions in Lion City to help keep her mind from continuously stressing over her long-awaited rematch:

“Just a day before my match with Jessa we went out and explored Singapore because I didn't get to do that the last two times I was in Singapore, and it felt different. It felt calm. I was doing normal things, like I wasn't thinking about jiu-jitsu. I wasn't thinking about Jessa.

“I was thinking about being a normal person, like it kind of just kind of distracted me and not worried about there's gonna be media there's gonna be cameras, everyone from the East Coast is going to watch me, like I didn't have that in my head. So I think that helped me a lot, because the next day I felt more calm.”

Things worked out in Danielle Kelly’s favor as she earned an impressive decision win over Khan, avenging a 2021 loss against the Cambodian-American and becoming the promotion’s first-ever women’s submission grappling champion.

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 14 replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.