Jessa Khan shares why she’ll never fight at a slow pace: “It's not my game”

Jessa Khan will be making her ONE Championship debut later this month. -- Photo by ONE Championship
Jessa Khan will be making her ONE Championship debut later this month. -- Photo by ONE Championship

For jiu-jitsu black belt Jessa Khan, fighting at a pace she knows has been key to her success and given the chance to continue doing it she will stay in that lane.

It is this mindset that she will be carrying when she makes her ONE Championship debut later this month, which will seen her vie for the inaugural ONE atomweight submission grappling world title.

The Cambodian-American fighter is up against familiar foe Danielle Kelly at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video happening on September 29 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Speaking to Alex Wendling on YouTube, Jessa Khan said she will be looking for a faster pace when she renengages with Kelly in the marquee title showdown.

The 21-year-old Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy standout said:

“There are times when I have tried to compete like that, you know, to match someone else's energy and like go at a slower pace, but then it ended up backfiring on me. And that's just because it's not my game, I don’t want to force myself to take myself out of my comfort zone.”

Check out the interview below:

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ONE Fight Night 14 will mark the second time the two jiu-jitsu black belts will be battling. They first collided in February 2021 in a no-gi match outside of ONE Championship in the United States. Jessa Khan emerged victorious in the 15-minute clash, winning by decision.

While she is making her ONE debut, Khan is no longer a stranger to high-stakes matches, having competed and won in various international competitions while representing Cambodia, including in the Asian and Southeast Asian Games. She has also parlayed her wares in the IBJJF World Championship.

Meanwhile, apart from exacting payback for the loss she absorbed in their first encounter, 27-year-old Kelly is coming into the match with dogged determination to fulfill her long-held goal of becoming a world champion.

Entering the contest, she is riding back-to-back wins, the most recent last February over Ayaka Miura of Japan by unanimous decision.

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