“I was very hesitant” – Danielle Kelly admits she lacked confidence in her first match with Jessa Khan

American grappling ace Danielle Kelly admitted that she lacked confidence when she first faced Jessa Khan, which led to her defeat. She is now looking to not have a repeat of that in their scheduled rematch this week.

The 27-year-old Silver Fox BJJ athlete is to vie for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title against Cambodian-American Khan, 21, at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video on September 29 in Singapore.

It will be the second time that the two top women submission grapplers will battle it out. The first was in February 2021 at a no-gi match outside of ONE Championship in the United States. Khan ended up winning the 15-minute match by decision.

In an interview with MMA Mania, Danielle Kelly shared what went down in her first showdown with Khan and how she learned a lot from that encounter, saying:

“The biggest takeaway from that match, now going into this match, I’m really confident. I feel like back then, I wasn’t that confident. I was kind of stuck in a little obstacle. You know, I was kind of like not really myself. And in that match, I kind of went in there and you can just tell I was very hesitant a lot of times in the match.”

Watch the interview below:

A chance to become a submission grappling world champion is something Danielle Kelly has been looking forward to since joining ONE Championship last year.

She has been undefeated in her ONE journey so far and is seeking to take it to another level with a victory at ONE Fight Night 14, which will be played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

A world title is also what Jessa Khan is going for in her promotional debut.

Entering the contest, the Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy standout won a gold medal in the light-featherweight division at the 2023 IBJJF World Championship in June in California.

ONE Fight Night 14 is available live and for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.