“That would be exciting for me” - Lea Bivins wants to compete against Danielle Kelly in MMA

Lea Bivins will make her long-awaited ONE Championship debut at ONE on Prime Video 3. The 20-year-old prospect was originally scheduled to face Zeba Bano this past July. Unfortunately, that fight was scrapped at the last minute, pushing Bivins’ promotional debut to this Friday’s U.S. primetime showcase.

Competing in the atomweight division, Bivins is interested in facing another potential standout at that weight in submission grappling sensation Danielle Kelly. In an interview with the the South China Morning Post, ‘First Moon’ shared her desire to take on Kelly in a mixed martial arts bout:

“If I had it my way, I would love to fight Danielle Kelly in the MMA circle. That would be exciting for me as well. I seen she was trying to call Angela out for a grappling match, but I think she should definitely step in the circle for MMA.”

Catch the full interview below:

Danielle Kelly has confirmed that a transition to MMA is imminent, noting that she expects to have her first bout in 2023. Until then, Kelly remains focused on submission grappling matchups and her always entertaining rivalry with ONE’s atomweight queen Angela Lee.

As for Bivins, she’ll first need to get past her ONE on Prime Video 3 opponent before looking ahead to a showdown with Danielle Kelly inside the circle.

‘First Moon’ will take on ONE newcomer Noelle Grandjean. Fighting out of Tiger Muay Thai, ‘Lil Monkey’ is 3-0 in her MMA career with two finishes, one knockout, and one submission.

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Lea Bivins hopes to meet Stamp Fairtex inside the circle someday

Lea Bivins, who trains out of UMMAF member club House Of Moons gym in Orangevale, California, transitioned to MMA in 2021, winning three straight bouts in the IMMAF World Championships Pankration. Now, she hopes to carry that success onto the biggest global stage, ONE Championship.

Booked for a big debut matchup with undefeated fighter Noelle Grandjean, Lea Bivins is eager to test her skills against some of the best in the world, including ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix Champion Stamp Fairtex.

Continuing her conversation with SCMP MMA, Bivins shared her desire to share the circle with the No.1 contender someday and praised Stamp's latest win:

“I’m a big fan of Stamp. She won that as well. She had an amazing striking [display]. I think her opponent was a little bit on the lesser side of striking so she was playing catch up the whole fight- is what I thought, but that was a good fight.”