Jessa Khan is making her ONE Championship debut in search of history.
The Cambodian-American grappling sensation is set to face old foe Danielle Kelly, whom she defeated by decision back in 2021, in her debut at “ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham” on Prime Video on September 29, and the inaugural ONE women’s atomweight submission grappling world title will be on the line.
But while she still believes she has Kelly’s number, Khan admits that she feels some added pressure to repeat the feat this time around.
“Yeah, I’m starting to feel a little nervous. It’s always a little nervous going against someone that you already beat because then you have that pressure. You need to beat them again,” she said.
“All the pressure (is on me). ONE, it’s a big event, especially my first time doing a fight with ONE, and the rematch gets done. Yeah. So, I’m pretty excited about it.”
While Kelly is a familiar foe, ONE Championship is a whole new platform for the 2023 IBJJF world champion.
Given that ONE is returning to the Singapore Indoor Stadium for the blockbuster event, her promotional debut will take place in the ONE circle rather than a ring, and Khan admits the circle wall will be an interesting wrinkle in the matchup with Kelly, who has twice competed inside ONE’s trademark stage.
“I’ve done a couple of superfights. I feel like they weren’t as big as ONE is, but it’d be interesting to see,” she said.
“I know they did mention that I will be fighting in the cage this time, so that’ll be interesting to see. Like, how does it play out for the match? Does it help me or her as the match goes on? I haven’t experienced something like this, like fighting in the cage, like fighting overseas on Amazon Prime. So there’s a lot of things that add up to it. But I’m always down to do my best and put on a show for everyone.”
The combat sports world will be watching Khan closely when she steps onto the global stage with ONE, including the media circus.
The added attention that comes with the martial arts giant has been an eyeopener for the 21-year-old phenom, but one that she is learning to embrace.
“Even now, I’m not used to doing all these interviews, all these Zoom calls, and like, all this extra stuff for fights. I feel like it’s taking my career to the next step,” Khan said.
“It’s kind of like a lot to do with training, getting my mind prepared for the fight. But I’m excited. I know that once it’s time for the actual fight, I need to just tune everything out and do what I have to do. I’ve been enjoying the process.”
