Danielle Kelly recalls the challenges she faced against the bigger Ayaka Miura

American grappling ace Danielle Kelly’s last victory did not come easy, marked by a lot of challenges that she had to dig deep for to overcome.

The 27-year-old Silver Fox BJJ athlete took on a bigger opponent in Ayaka Miura of Japan back in March in a catchweight grappling match. Kelly admitted to having a hard time against the size of ‘Zombie’ and her expert judo skills but still went on to win the contest by unanimous decision.

Recently in an interview with Sherdog, Danielle Kelly recalled what took place in her last fight and how proud she was of the win.

The jiu-jitsu black belt said:

“I wouldn't say like the time change or what really affected me. But in my last match a lot of people kind of ignored that I was going up her weight class. Like she was bigger than me. It was in a ring, so I'm usually used to the cage by now under ONE.”

Watch the interview of Danielle Kelly below:

That kind of resilience is what Danielle Kelly is banking on when she vies for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video on September 29 in Singapore.

She will be going up against familiar foe Jessa Khan in the event happening at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and is available live and for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.

It will be the second meeting between the two top jiu-jitsu athletes after their no-gi showdown outside of ONE Championship in the United States in February 2021.

Jessa Khan took the first encounter by way of decision and it is something she is using as a springboard in their scheduled rematch and her push to become a ONE world champion.