IBJJF world champ Jessa Khan ready to bring the fight to Danielle Kelly: “I’ll try to keep the fight in the center”

At ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29, surging BJJ phenoms Danielle Kelly and Jessa Khan will hit the mats for the inaugural ONE women's atomweight submission grappling world title.

The 21-year-old Cambodian-American Jessa Khan will be making her promotional debut with tremendous momentum on her side, having won the 2023 IBJJF Worlds gold medal. As for Danielle Kelly, the American grappling savant is on a three-fight unbeaten streak since debuting in ONE last year.

Danielle Kelly and Jessa Khan went on an aggressive back-and-forth match at WNO Championships in 2021, which Khan won via a razor-close decision.

Ahead of ONE Fight Night 14, Jessa Khan sat down with the South China Morning Post to talk about what she has in store for her former foe come fight night:

“For me, I’ll try to keep the fight in the center of the cage. But, of course, I know, she’s more experienced with that since she’s fought with ONE three times now. So she might use that to her advantage, getting me against the cage. But I think I’ll still be in a dominant position by the time we get there.”

Watch the full interview here:

The one thing that may need some adjustment for the Cambodian-American phenom is how to deal with the presence of the cage.

All of the major grappling organizations like IBJJF, ADCC, and WNO employ an open-area mat with no walls. The cage can work as either a weapon or a hindrance.

With a cage thrown into the equation, sprawling from takedowns will be difficult. It can, however, provide leverage when it comes to executing submissions.

Regardless, we can guarantee that this bout has the potential to steal the show as both grappling stars are very well-versed in attacking. There shouldn't be a dull moment.

ONE Fight Night 14 goes down on September 29 at Singapore Indoor Stadium and will be available live and free for North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.