Danielle Kelly Makes First ONE Championship Title Defense

Later tonight, Danielle Kelly makes the first defense of her Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title.

Standing across from her will be an incredibly tough opponent in Mayssa Bastos, who is the co-main on the ONE Fight Night 24 card that takes place tonight at 8pm ET and airs on Prime Video.

“I’ve studied her and I know how good she is,” said Kelly (20-9-1). “It’s going to be a battle of styles. I’m hoping mine can overwhelm her.”

Ahead of Danielle Kelly's first defense of the ONE Women's Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title against Mayssa Bastos, relive her crowning moment against Jessa Khan 👑#ONEFightNight24 | Fri Aug 2 at 8PM ET
🇺🇸🇨🇦 Watch Live on Prime⁠
🇬🇧🇮🇪 Watch Live on Sky Sports⁠ pic.twitter.com/ZRU5LHiTvM
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 26, 2024

Last September, Kelly defeated Jessa Khan–avenging a loss from February 2021–to win the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Championship. But in order to become ONE’s most prominent face in submission grappling, she must find a way to overcome Bastos.

Considered one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the game, Bastos ripped through Kanae Yamada in her ONE debut in March. Bastos is a nine-time BJJ world champion with 118 victories, and the ONE championship would fit nicely among her growing list of accolades.

Mayssa Bastos (Unity) is the best female grappler in the world. Primarily using a combination of DLR and DLR-X guard, Bastos guard is basically un-passable. The 3x defending World Champion is a berimbolo/crab ride machine but is not afraid to smash from top position. pic.twitter.com/CKUdX43pst
— Leo Santos Stan (@gioiaplata) March 31, 2022

Bastos will look to push the pace, especially when the fight starts. Whether Kelly can take her back will be a critical question. If Bastos has her way, fight fans may witness the berimbolo–a complex technique where a fighter is inverted upside down and controls the opponent’s hips to secure back control. But it is a risk because it could leave Bastos vulnerable with a counter leg lock.

“It’s going to be a really exciting, technical match,” said Kelly. “I think this is going to go the distance.”

If Kelly retains, it would make sense to see the Philadelphia native on a card in September or November when ONE returns to the United States.

“I need to walk out of this match first,” said Kelly. “I hope I’m on a US card, but all my focus is on this match.”