Jessa Khan needed to push herself early in her career: “I just kind of had to be rogue”

At just 21 years old, Jessa Khan has accomplished an incredible list of accolades in submission grappling, but that doesn’t mean it has been an easy path to the top.

In fact, she shares some similarities with her upcoming opponent at ONE Fight Night 14, Danielle Kelly, who has spoken about the pushbacks and sacrifices she has had to make to reach the top of grappling as a female competitor.

Ahead of her contest for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world championship, Khan spoke about the dedication to herself that she had to make.

In an interview with Alex Wendling, the Cambodian-American representative revealed that she made the decision to bet everything on herself to try and live up to her potential.

Having won an IBJJF world championship earlier this year, it’s fair to say that her decision is paying off for her already. Jessa said:

“So I think I just kind of had to be rogue with myself and have like a real talk and just say like I know like if you can like actually give 100 per cent you can do it and that it's possible. And then you know I kind of took my own advice I took everyone else's advice I was willing to help me.”

She added:

“And then you know I just tried to shift my mindset with that before the worlds. And then things ended up working out. I ended up winning four tough fights and I got my world title.”

Watch the full interview below:

Jessa Khan will look to continue her incredible year by becoming the first female submission grappling world champion under the ONE Championship banner on September 29.

ONE Fight Night 14 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.