Jessa Khan believes onus to perform falls on Danielle Kelly: “She needs to prove herself”

By BJPENN.COM Staff - September 11, 2023

Jessa Khan is set to face Danielle Kelly once again. But this time, it’s for the inaugural ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title.

Jessa Khan

The rematch happens at ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video, which airs live in U.S. primetime from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 29.

This contest carries significant history. In fact, the two grappling prodigies clashed in 2021. In that matchup, Khan emerged victorious via decision after 15 minutes of high-paced ground action.

As they prepare to step into the ONE Championship Circle this time, Kelly is eager to exact revenge.

Meanwhile, Khan exudes confidence. She firmly believes that she has the tools to defeat Kelly once again.

“It helps me to know that I already beat her once. So, it’s more her. She needs to prove herself — not me,” the Cambodian-American told ONEFC.com.

While Khan may have won their initial encounter, she remains dissatisfied with her inability to submit Kelly.

The Cambodian-American prodigy looked back at it with a critical eye and viewed it as a missed opportunity.

“I wasn’t able to submit her, but I was pretty much leading the fight. I was able to hit like 10 different submission attempts, and that’s pretty much what won me the fight. She was mostly just defending,” Khan said.

Jessa Khan’s “main goal’ is to submit Danielle Kelly at ONE Fight Night 14

For Jessa Khan, defeating Danielle Kelly by unanimous decision is not enough. She’s determined to leave no doubts in the minds of fans and critics alike.

As a matter of fact, she plans to submit Kelly in their rematch, which will now have a 10-minute time limit.

“My main goal is to try to get a submission. That kind of bugged me in our fight. The first time, it was 15 minutes. I had more time, but I still wasn’t able to submit her, even though I tried multiple times,” Khan said.

“So I’m definitely going to try to fix whatever went wrong in that match. That way, I can actually get a submission. That’s something that’s been bugging me.”


Topics:

ONE Championship