"I want to attack aggressively" - Mei Yamaguchi warns Danielle Kelly that she's in for a tough debut at ONE X

Things haven't gone Mei Yamaguchi’s way of late, but the Japanese veteran is ready to change that at ONE X on March 26.

Yamaguchi returns to the Circle at ONE’s 10-year anniversary spectacle to face debutant Danielle Kelly in an atomweight submission grappling contest set for a single 15-minute canto.

Ahead of her return, the former ONE atomweight world title contender has warned the American grappling expert that she should expect a tough night out when they meet inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“I want to attack aggressively while showing the advantages of my mixed martial arts skills,” Mei Yamaguchi offered during a ONE X press conference in Japan.

The Tokyo native went on to outline that she recognizes Kelly's skillset and that she expects an interesting challenge from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert.

“My opponent is a young and talented American fighter who has signed with Evolve and has yet to make her debut as a mixed martial artist, so it has become a grappling match. Her level of grappling seems to be quite high and she is an opponent who can attack from various places.”

Mei Yamaguchi endured yet another slump at ONE: Bad Blood against Malaysian phenom Jihin ‘Shadow Cat’ Radzuan last month. It marked the third consecutive time she failed to pick up a win in the Circle.

However, the stalwart competitor has tucked those performances away and is now fully focused on her latest mission in ONE.

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Mei Yamaguchi thankful for opportunity to compete on stacked ONE X card

Danielle Kelly’s acumen on the ground is something that can trouble Yamaguchi. However, the 39-year-old is prepared to showcase her Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo and wrestling in order to overcome the promotion’s latest signing.

Win or lose, Mei Yamaguchi hopes to put on a good show at the 10-year extravaganza.

“I am really happy to have been invited to such a big tournament. I just had a fight last month, but I am happy to get offers for back-to-back fights and I really appreciate it. This time I will compete in a submission-only grappling rules match. The entire card [is] expected to be heated, but [given that] I am fighting under the submission ruleset, it means that ONE believes that I'm attractive enough for a grappling match and I want to respond to those expectations."

Tune in on March 26 to watch the action unfold.