ONE Fight Night 24: Danielle Kelly says ring or cage setting won't matter in title defense vs. Mayssa Bastos

Danielle Kelly is ready to defend her atomweight MMA submission grappling world title anywhere, anytime.

The Silver Fox BJJ superstar has come a long way from her days competing on the mats in the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments over the years. Now, she struts her stuff in front of a global audience in the world's largest martial arts organization.

Submission grappling in ONE entails athletes competing inside the circle and ring, something that Kelly has been quite adept with over the years.

In fact, it was her mastery of the promotion's circle walls that played a huge factor in her world title-winning performance against Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 last year.

This coming August 2, live in US primetime, Kelly will put her 26 pounds of gold on the line for the first time against Mayssa Bastos in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart on Prime Video.

The 10-minute grapple-fest is set to take place inside Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium ring in Bangkok, Thailand.

For Kelly, the terrain doesn't really matter and she's confident of getting her hand raised. The 28-year-old American said on Home of Fight's YouTube page:

"Well, I was beating Jessa with or without the cage. When we were in the center and we were in the corner. Even when I almost had submission attempts, it was off the cage. So the same thing with the ring. But the ring's kinda confusing, cause sometimes they don't set you up and sometimes they do set you up."

Here's the interview in its entirety:

---

Danielle Kelly confident ring rust won't be an issue against Mayssa Bastos

ONE Fight Night 24 will be Danielle Kelly's first appearance of 2024. Despite the long break, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, native assured her fans she kept working behind closed doors.

In the same interview, Kelly explained why the lengthy time off won't matter much once she locks horns with her Brazilian challenger:

"It's going to feel like a little new, so I'm going to have probably like ring rust or something. But you know, everyone's pushing me in my team so I'm pretty confident."

ONE Fight Night 24 is free for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.