“I'm definitely confident in my guard” - Danielle Kelly responds to critics who claim she can’t fight off her back 

Danielle Kelly does most of her damage through her amazing top game and aggressive passing sequences. So much so, that some pundits have begun questioning just how good her guard game truly is.

It appears that even Kelly's upcoming opponent, Mayssa Bastos, is critiquing how she operates off her back. The former atomweight submission grappling world champion will look to regain her lost crown this Friday against Bastos at ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs Rasulov on Prime Video.

Appearing on JitsCast's YouTube channel, Kelly shared that Bastos' camp is fixating on her guard, especially after she defeated the champ's Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy teammate, Jessa Khan. She said:

"I'm definitely confident in my guard and I think when they're studying me, I feel like they think I don't have a guard because at one point even in the match with Jessa, I made the mistake of not using my lasso leg when she was trying to pass guard. I just went on my knees and she was able to take my back. So they're definitely studying that so she's probably gonna come up."

Watch Danielle Kelly's full interview:

Danielle Kelly believes she was close to finishing Mayssa Bastos in their last fight

While Mayssa Bastos emerged victorious at ONE Fight Night 24 against Danielle Kelly, the latter was still able to threaten the new champion multiple times.

In fact, the Silver Fox BJJ representative thinks she came close to submitting the nine-time IBJJF world champion had time not run out. She told ONE Championship:

“She’s definitely beatable and submittable. The last couple seconds [of the first match], if there was a minute or two more, she was gonna get submitted."

ONE Fight Night 26 will emanate from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Dec. 6, live at U.S. Primetime. This full event is free for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.