“I’ll be facing a 100x world champion” - Danielle Kelly going all out in her underdog mentality ahead of Mayssa Bastos clash

Danielle Kelly is doubling down on her underdog persona. The reigning ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion will defend her throne against the highly-touted Mayssa Bastos in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 24.

Kelly's first defense of her strap goes down on Aug. 2 at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium. Taking to Instagram, Kelly shared some snippets of her training camp at Silver Fox BJJ.

Danielle Kelly believes that while she's the one defending the gold, Bastos is the clear favorite in their matchup and even called the nine-time BJJ world champion a "100-time world champion."

She wrote:

"In a few weeks, I'll be facing a 100-time world champion, here's some clips of me showing how camp is 😊💀"

Bastos is one of this generation's most accomplished female grapplers, and the Brazilian star won multiple IBJJF world titles in the gi and no gi.

Kelly, though, isn't a stranger to beating grappling world champions.

The American star holds an unbeaten record in ONE Championship at 3-0-1.

After settling for a draw against Japanese women's MMA pioneer Mei Yamaguchi, Kelly racked up impressive wins over Sambo world champion Mariia Molchanova, Ayaka Miura, and IBJJF world champion Jessa Khan.

ONE Fight Night 24 now presents Kelly with the opportunity to break through her current ceiling.

The entire card is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Danielle Kelly wants to prove herself against Mayssa Bastos

Mayssa Bastos is one of the most technical grapplers in the current landscape of BJJ, and Danielle Kelly expects her world title challenger to be as close to perfect as possible.

Kelly told Home of Fight in an interview that Bastos would provide a difficult puzzle to solve and come at her with a highly specialized approach.

"This is going to be a pretty competitive matchup, you know. I want to prove myself always."