“I wasn’t bothered about the past” - Danielle Kelly reveals ‘totally different mindset’ she had for Jessa Khan last year

Danielle Kelly discussed the mindset change between her two submission grappling matches against Jessa Khan.

In September 2023, Kelly faced Khan in a historic submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 24. The stakes were high for the American superstar, as the inaugural ONE women's atomweight world title was on the line and she looked to avenge a defeat against Khan from a different promotion.

Kelly wouldn't allow Khan to take away her special moment and dominated the match to secure a unanimous decision win. During an interview with Jordan Teaches Jiujitsu, Kelly had this to say about the mental difference between her two matches against Cambodian-American:

"I was too frozen with a lot of my reaction time, especially for jiu-jitsu, you know, like it’s one of those things like you knew what they're going to go for and they do it anyways, and it's more like how am I going to fight this."

Kelly continued by saying:

"Whereas the second time I faced her, I had a totally different mindset, you know. I didn’t care about how many titles you have, who you train with, didn’t care how long or how many tournaments you had, or whatever you’ve done because It was a new match. I was just focused on winning and I wasn’t bothered about the past."

Watch Danielle Kelly's entire interview with Jordan Teaches Jiujitsu below:

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Danielle Kelly's latest challenge goes down in ONE Fight Night 24 co-main event

On Friday, August 2, Danielle Kelly looks to defend her women's atomweight submission grappling world title in the ONE Fight Night 24 co-main event. Standing across from the American superstar will be Mayssa Bastos, an 8x BJJ world champion who defeated Kanae Yamada in her promotional debut in March.

Kelly vs Bastos is one of several intriguing matchups taking place inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Friday's event featuring two world title fights can be seen live and for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.