Reigning ONE atomweight submission grappling world champion Danielle Kelly spoke about her upcoming title protection in opposition to Mayssa Bastos at ONE Combat Night time 24.
Danielle Kelly will come into her upcoming match in opposition to Mayssa Bastos because the reigning and defending champion, however she says she’s the underdog in opposition to the embellished Brazilian.
The pair are set to collide in a 10-minute, submission-only contest on Friday, August 2 within the co-main occasion of ONE Combat Night time 24 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The match will mark Kelly’s first protection of her ONE atomweight submission grappling world title. The American received the title final September with an upset victory over then-reigning IBJJF world champion Jessa Khan, avenging a earlier loss to the Artwork of Jiu-Jitsu product.
Kelly will now look to show but once more that she belongs among the many planet’s prime opponents when she locks horns with essentially the most completed BJJ athlete of the game’s lightest weight lessons.
“I’m nonetheless a champion… however I’m additionally being form of missed in a manner,” Kelly stated in an interview with ONE Championship.
Simply two weeks after Bastos challenges for Kelly’s title, she’s set to compete within the 55kg division on the 2024 ADCC World Championships. In line with Kelly, that’s a sign that Bastos is taking her frivolously.
“Why do I really feel like I’m being missed? I really feel like if she’s taking ADCC very significantly, most individuals wouldn’t actually take the match two weeks earlier than the event. So to me, I really feel like she thinks I’m going to be a straightforward match for her.”
Whereas Kelly thinks Bastos could be wanting previous her on August 2, she admits that the nine-time IBJJF world champion will certainly give it her all when the 2 share the ring.
Nonetheless, Kelly is vital of her opponent’s type, stating that Bastos sometimes cruises to a call or factors win fairly than pushing for the submission till the tip.
“I imply when the match begins, she’s going to take it significantly,” stated the Philadelphia native. “Like, she’s a multiple-time world champion and every little thing. However I really feel I can inform with some matches, she both turns up the tempo or she slows it down when she will get her benefit or one thing.”
Stylistically, the match represents a little bit of a conflict of kinds. In a single nook, Bastos is arguably the best berimbolo participant the game has ever seen. Kelly, in the meantime, is an all-around grappler however tends to do her finest work when attacking with leg locks.
In breaking down the match, Kelly notices that each Bastos and Khan practice out of the famed Artwork of Jiu-Jitsu, and each are glorious back-takers:
“I really feel like she may play legs as a result of she was doing that in her final match. But when I’ve to look from the skin, if her coaches are performing some learning on me, I really feel like they’re going to inform her to attempt to take my again simply as Jessa [Khan] did within the first one. I don’t assume they’re coaching collectively, although. However they’re teammates, in order that they’re positively learning movie collectively. On the berimbolo stuff, I was intimidated by it, however I really feel like if I simply go in there, get in her face, and pay attention to what she’s attempting to do and what her finest issues are, that may assist me.”
Finally, Kelly is assured she’s turned a nook in her profession.
Earlier than, when she was nonetheless a rising star within the sport of submission grappling, she struggled in opposition to extra completed opponents like Bastos. That mindset has shifted in an enormous manner, she says:
“I wish to be humble. I don’t wish to form of, like, say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna do that or that.’ I imply, we’re additionally 115-pounders, so it’s going to be arduous to interrupt one another. However, realistically, that’s what I wish to do.
“And I really feel like due to how completed she is, I believe years in the past, if I went in opposition to her, if I first, like, seen her, I’d form of be starstruck. Now, I’m form of simply moving into there now. Like, I don’t actually give a sh*t what you completed or what number of titles you’ve gotten.”
How you can watch: Danielle Kelly vs. Mayssa Bastos takes place at ONE Combat Night time 24 and can air reside on Prime Video (free with Amazon Plus subscription) on August 2, 2024, starting at 8:00 PM ET.
