“I won’t turn that down” – Danielle Kelly interested in submission grappling match against Xiong Jing Nan

Since signing with ONE Championship, submission grappler Danielle Kelly has been calling her shots at some of the biggest names in the promotion.

From the moment she became a part of the ONE family, the 27-year old has been campaigning for high-profile matchups as she looks to test herself on the biggest stage possible.

One name that has repeatedly come out of her mouth is atomweight world champion Angela Lee. The champ and Kelly have exchanged words on several occasions as both women seem open to the idea of testing their grappling skills against one another.

During her pre-event interview ahead of ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, Danielle Kelly mentioned another name alongside Lee, strawweight MMA world champion Xiong Jing Nan.

She said:

“I would love to go against both of them [Xiong and Angela Lee]. I would love to go against her. Why not? Sounds easy to me. I think she’ll be an easier matchup than Angela, but I won’t turn that down.”

Xiong Jing Nan and Angela Lee are the only female MMA fighters who have held a world title in ONE Championship, having claimed the inaugural belts in their respective divisions and defeating every challenger they faced.

Kelly hopes to test her skills against the two formidable female champs to bring more eyes to submission grappling.

Danielle Kelly talks about ONE Championship’s submission grappling ruleset

Danielle Kelly is one of the premier submission grappling competitors on the ONE Championship roster. In recent years, the promotion has been heavily investing into the sport, and with that comes a unique ruleset.

ONE Championship’s variation on the grappling ruleset favors offense over anything else, encouraging competitors to try and finish the contest. With that, it rewards fighters with a decision victory if they’re unable to get the submission but produced the better threats.

At ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, Kelly will compete in the promotion for the third time when she faces Japanese judo specialist Ayaka Miura.

With her opponent’s solid background and experience competing in MMA, Kelly knows that Miura will be difficult to submit. However, she can make the most of ONE’s variation on submission grappling to ensure that by being the aggressor, she gets her hand raised regardless.

In her pre-event interview ahead of February 24, Danielle Kelly said:

“I like it, It makes people not stall or stay in one position and then have the other person. The refs will tell you to keep going if you stall. You’ll get a tally card, which is good for the sport because no one wants to watch boring jiu-jitsu or stalling. So I like the rules because it helps you keep going for the submissions.”

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch the fight live and for free this Friday on Prime Video with an active Amazon subscription.