“I think adjusting threw her off” – Danielle Kelly believes Jessa Khan struggled to find her footing in the Circle

Experience can very well beat talent. This is something that Danielle Kelly proved when she defeated Jessa Khan in their rematch at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29 inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Kelly eked out a unanimous decision win over Khan to gain a historic win and become the first-ever women’s submission grappling world champion under the ONE Championship banner.

The newly minted ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion pointed out massive factors that gave her a huge upper hand against her former tormentor. Kelly said that her preparation and experience fighting inside the circle were keys to her victory.

She shared this thought in her interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer by saying:

“I think adjusting threw her off. I think I showed I was the more prepared fighter.”

Prior to this championship fight, the Silver Fox BJJ representative has already fought in three ONE Championship matches, where she scored wins over Mariia Molchanova in November 2022 and Ayaka Miura in February 2023, plus an impressive showing in a draw with Mei Yamaguchi in her promotional debut in March 2022.

The atmosphere and pressure of fighting in front of a packed arena and the thousands of viewers from around the world are, however, new to the Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy athlete, even if she already won multiple BJJ tournaments before her ONE Championship debut.

Aside from the ton of improvements and relentless attack from Kelly, this proves that the competition in ONE Championship is on a different level, and performing in such a huge spotlight may be too bright even for multiple-time BJJ world champions like Khan.

You can watch the ONE Fight Night 14 replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.