“I shouldn’t have competed at all” – Danielle Kelly regrets decision to fight Jessa Khan with a torn rotator cuff in 2021

ONE Fight Night 14 was a huge night in the career of Danielle Kelly.

The stakes couldn’t have been higher for the 28-year-old, who was competing for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world championship.

Kelly had long wanted to prove her doubters wrong by showing that she could compete at the very highest level despite not having a world championship win under her belt already.

Not only that, but standing across from her at the Singapore Indoor Stadium was a competitor who did have this accolade and had beaten Kelly in their first meeting two years prior.

Winning a decision over Jessa Khan is sure to be one of the biggest accomplishments of Kelly’s career, especially after what happened the last time that they went head-to-head.

During a recent Instagram Q&A, Kelly was asked what the worst injury she’s ever had was. She then revealed that the worst injury of her career coincides with her loss to Khan, which will have surely added more motivation going into the rematch:

“When I had a torn rotator cuff in the week of my first match with Jessa. I shouldn’t have competed at all lol. 2021 was a bad injury year.”

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Danielle Kelly will look to continue building on ONE Fight Night 14

There can be no doubt that Danielle Kelly is world champion material following her win over Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14.

The atomweight submission grappling world champion has shown clear progression each time that she has stepped inside the circle, and her world title win in September last year was perfect proof of that.

Reaching the top of the mountain and staying there are two very different challenges, though, and Kelly will be aware that there are still a lot of tasks and hard work ahead of her.