Danielle Kelly not taking Ayaka Miura lightly

Grappling ace Danielle Kelly understands just how highly skilled 'Zombie' Ayaka Miura is on the mats. The American jiu-jitsu specialist will take on the dangerous Japanese judoka later this month.

The submission grappling match is set for ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video. The event will go down on February 24 at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium. All the action will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers across North America.

While speaking in an interview with SCMP MMA, Danielle Kelly described some of the dangers she sees in her upcoming opponent:

"Yeah, she has good judo chops. My opponent, she's obviously really good. She's a pretty experienced judo person. Her last three or four submissions were pretty [much] like the same thing. I think it would be an exciting match."

See the full interview below:

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Danielle Kelly targets a world championship in 2023

Danielle Kelly is targeting ONE Championship gold in 2023. ONE introduced two submission grappling world titles in 2022, and Kelly is hoping they will be adding another for her division soon.

While speaking in an interview with ONE Championship, the 27-year-old grappler explained her point of view:

"If ONE would do a women’s world title, I would love to go against Jessa Khan. People think I’m dodging jiu-jitsu people, but I’ve been studying her, so I hope I get that match.”

Khan is signed to ONE Championship and was set to be in action in 2022. However, her debut match did not push through. With both Kelly and Khan on the same roster, it could be possible to see them share the circle soon.

Regardless of who she faces next, Kelly is highly grateful to be in such a prestigious position in the promotion:

“I think, being in this position, I feel pretty blessed but also it’s work now. People are watching me, there are more eyes on me. So it made me work harder, and work more. This is a job to me, something I like to do. So I think what I got out of it this year is I think I’m a different grappler. So, yeah, I’m taking it seriously and I’m just really, really grateful to be here and be in a spot that I’m in.”