“I hope she knows I’m working from bad spots” - Danielle Kelly prepared to face adversity against Ayaka Miura

ONE submission grappler Danielle Kelly believes her next opponent will outweigh her, but sees how that could actually play into her favor.

Kelly will face ONE MMA veteran Ayaka Miura at ONE Fight Night 7 in Bangkok next month, in a bout that could determine a world title challenger for the inaugural belt.

While Miura has far more experience in the ONE Circle, Danielle Kelly claims she is fully ready to find victory in the midst of smothering positions. The American recently spoke to media outlet The MMA Superfan about the matchup, revealing her perspective on Miura’s potential size advantage:

"You know it might be an advantage for me if I were in a bad spot, and I hope she knows I’m working from bad spots. I think I’m way smaller than her, I might just take her back from there. So she kinda has to be sure that it’s a really good takedown or submission locked on there."

Ayaka Miura is a judo specialist with seven MMA fights under the ONE Championship banner. She’ll be competing in a different ruleset for the first time in her run in the promotion. Their submission grappling bout is set to take place at a catchweight of 53.9 kilograms.

Another interesting note about this match is that it’ll take place in a square ring as opposed to the Circle. The event will take place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, a famed home of some of Thailand’s most illustrious Muay Thai fights.

Will the lack of the Circle wall change the strategy towards takedowns? It’ll be ONE Championship’s first grappling match set to take place in a boxing ring, so there’s currently no precedent.

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Danielle Kelly relishes key role in driving women’s grappling forward

Danielle Kelly has big plans not only for herself in ONE Championship, but to also elevate her sport as a whole.

In the same interview with The MMA Superfan, Danielle Kelly commented on her role in grappling as a whole and how she hopes her presence will create more opportunities for others:

I’m at a part of my life right now where I’m making changes, making a first time for everything. I wasn’t really happy with my first match, but the fact that it was the first female grappling match in ONE Championship is a huge accomplishment to me. And it feels like I’m in a spot where I can push the sport especially for females and little girls, kids. I think it’s given me a lot of outlook in life.

While ONE Championship currently does not have any world champions in the female weight classes of grappling, it’s likely that the winner of Danielle Kelly vs. Ayaka Miura could elect the first contender.

ONE Fight Night 7 goes down on February 24th from Bangkok, Thailand, and airs on Amazon Prime for North American subscribers.