We recently got the chance to speak to Danielle Kelly and she revealed a great rematch that she would be interested in booking next. Kelly obviously has something very big on the horizon that she’s preparing for first of course, as she’s facing Mayssa Bastos at ONE Fight Night 26. That’s actually what brought up this topic of conversation, as this will be the second time that the two women have faced one another recently. They first met just a few months ago at ONE Fight Night 24 where Bastos won a decision and left with the ONE Championship atomweight submission grappling title.
Up until that point, Kelly was the only champion that the division had ever known and actually the only female submission grappling champion in the promotion’s history. She won the inaugural title by beating Jessa Khan at ONE Fight Night 14 and ironically, that was another rematch. If Danielle Kelly is able to win her upcoming match at ONE Fight Night 26 and take the title back from Mayssa Bastos then that will be the second rematch that she’s won during her time in the promotion. Continuing that trend, we wanted to know if there were any other rematches that Kelly would be interested in pursuing next:
“I know Tammi Musumeci called me out before and she’s beaten me. She subbed me actually, the only girl that submitted me at the Who’s Number One tournament. I always wanted to get that one back because I know that they’re confident that they can beat me and I feel like I’m in a different headspace now… and a different grappler, so that would be a cool one to get in the future.”
The match that Kelly is referring to was all the way back in 2021 and it was during the Who’s Number One Championship event. Musumeci went on to win a bronze medal in that division thanks in part to her win over Kelly, and both women have gone on to sign with ONE Championship since then. Both of them were successful in their early matches too, and Kelly is right that Musumeci was interested in the rematch against her at 115lbs. It would certainly be a great match and it’s one that ONE Championship should have their eye on once Kelly and Bastos have had their match.
JitsCast #3 with Danielle Kelly, including her picking the rematch she wants next, is now available to watch on the official JitsMagazine YouTube channel, click here to subscribe for more or check out the interview below:
