Jessa Khan has just had her ONE Championship debut match announced and the young star will be facing off against Amanda ‘Tubby’ Alequin in her first fight for the promotion. Khan is one of the most exciting prospects in female grappling right now, not long after she made history as the first black belt to come from the kid’s program at Art of Jiu-Jitsu. Not only have the Mendes brothers had a huge impact on BJJ as fantastic competitors but they have also put in years of work as dedicated coaches too. As a result of their tireless efforts in bringing along the next generation of grapplers, the brothers now have a team of incredible athletes all at the very beginning of what will no doubt be incredible careers.
Khan is leading the way for female athletes at Art of Jiu-Jitsu and she earned an incredible opportunity just recently when she signed a contract with ONE Championship. She wasn’t alone either though, as her teammate Tainan Dalpra was among the small number of elite grapplers who earned the attention of the promotion’s CEO Chatri Sityodtong. It’s just the start of a larger move by Sityodtong and ONE Championship, as he has decided to start an entire grappling division for the promotion and has already secured some of the biggest names in the sport like Andre Galvao and Mikey Musumeci.
Jessa Khan will be the next in their list of elite grappling talent who will make their debut for ONE Championship and her match against Amanda ‘Tubby’ Alequin will take place at ONE 159 on July 22nd. The pair will compete at 105lbs and like the previous grappling matches the promotion has staged, they will compete over one ten-minute round. It seems as though ONE Championship have listened to fans however and for the first time, they will also be using judges for the match if it goes the full distance. While Andre Galvao and Danielle Kelly both put on great displays in their debuts, it was something of an anti-climax for both matches to end in a draw. For Jessa Khan and Amanda ‘Tubby’ Alequin, there will be a winner decided no matter what happens on the night.
ONE Championship have also uploaded a post to their official Instagram account to find out from fans who they should match the rest of their grappling superstars against next:
