“We're figuring out her game” - Danielle Kelly reveals her preparations ahead of Ayaka Miura match

Danielle Kelly will be taking on a strong, accomplished opponent in Ayaka Miura next week in Bangkok, but she believes she’s done her homework.

The ONE atomweight grappler is heading into her third bout for ONE Championship, which could open the door for a potential world title fight later this year. In Japan’s Miura, there’s a lot to deal with in the immediate future.

Not only is Miura an experienced MMA fighter with ONE Championship, but she’s been a skilled judoka for even longer. Danielle Kelly is cognizant of her opponent’s strengths and revealed in an interview with ONE Championship some of the ways she has prepared for her match with Ayaka Miura:

"So Jay, my other coaches, and I watched a few of her matches. I've been working on my wrestling. I'm trying to get back to that because I used to wrestle a lot. I don't want to be just a guard puller. So if I go against her. I think it'd be a fun match. Because I know she's a judo black belt I think she does a lot of takedowns or MMA fights. So yeah, we're figuring out her game."

Another interesting feature of the fight is that it will take place in a ring instead of a cage. How that difference will benefit the styles of Kelly and Miura is yet to be seen, but it will definitely impact Danielle Kelly’s strategy to wrestle.

The match takes place at ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24 in Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. The event will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for fans in North America with an active Amazon subscription.

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Danielle Kelly shooting to finish Ayaka Miura with a choke at ONE Fight Night 7

In her third appearance at ONE Championship, Danielle Kelly is hoping to make an impression.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt doesn’t plan on letting the match go to the judges’ decision. Speaking to ONE Championship, Kelly outlined her attack priorities, saying:

"I’d be submitting her. I would like to get a choke. I think leglocks are starting to be overrated, but I mean, if I get a leglock then I'll just go for it, but I don't want to just have tunnel vision on it."

A submission by choke would follow up her last appearance for ONE, which was a rear naked choke win over Mariia Molchanova last November. Before that, Kelly drew with Mei Yamaguchi in the first-ever women’s grappling match win ONE last March.

Ayaka Miura will be making her debut as a grappler with ONE, but is coming off a 4-3 record as an MMA fighter with the organization and 11-5 overall in MMA. She’ll likely be hunting for the submission as well, and is especially gifted at finding the finish from the scarf hold position on top, she’s finished most of her MMA wins by Americana or a Scarf Hold Armlock.