Danielle Kelly says Jessa Khan’s game didn’t surprise her: “She kind of did some similar stuff” 

At ONE Fight Night 14, Danielle Kelly finally reached the top of the mountain that she had been climbing since signing with ONE Championship.

The 27-year-old has been one of the faces of the promotion’s progression into submission grappling, but one thing was missing: a world championship.

On Friday, September 29 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, that changed as she came into the contest with a point to prove. Not only did her opponent Jessa Khan hold a win over her from their first meeting two years ago, the Cambodian-American competitor had gone on to secure an IBJJF world championship this year.

In her attempt to show that, despite not having the same accolades next to her name, she is an elite competitor at the top of the sport, Kelly did just that with her performance.

Showing clear improvements from her first contest against Khan, the Silver Fox BJJ student also put her experience competing under the ONE Championship banner to good use with her knowledge of grappling against the circle.

After getting her hand raised via unanimous decision at the end of the 10-minute time limit, Kelly's emotions on the global stage showed how hard she has had to work to reach this status.

In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer after bringing the gold back to the U.S., Danielle Kelly reflected on the matchup and how her experience and preparation had her well-equipped to deal with her opponent’s game:

“We took her very seriously. She kind of did some similar stuff from the past match; she’s good at what she does.”

Feeling justified in not only the success in her career but the path she has gone down in order to achieve it, nights don’t get much better than September 29 for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion.

ONE Fight Night 14 is available to watch back via the free event replay for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.