"She knows how to flow with the match" - Danielle Kelly shares her only critique of Mayssa Bastos' flawless game
Danielle Kelly is expecting a tough test in the first defense of her ONE atomweight submission grappling world championship. The champ is no stranger to being counted as the underdog so this is nothing new for her.
However, an opponent like Mayssa Bastos makes it hard for anyone in the world to enter a match-up against her as the favorite.
Bastos has won accolades everywhere she has been, and after making her debut in ONE Championship earlier this year, she expects to do the same in this promotion.
Kelly was able to take some notes from Bastos' debut at ONE Fight Night 20, most notably about the way she looks to control the pace of a contest.
The defending champion broke down her opponent's game in an interview with ONE Championship:
"I can tell with some matches, she either turns up the pace or she slows it down when she gets her advantage or something."
Kelly elaborated by speaking about how she expects the same approach from Bastos in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 24:
"If she feels like she's up, she knows how to flow with the match. So I feel like with me, I feel like she's gonna probably play a similar game to her last ONE Championship match."
Danielle Kelly is happy to be counted out
Given a lot of the expectations heading into this contest, Danielle Kelly understands that she is the underdog. This does give her some advantages though, especially in relation to the approach that Bastos takes.
She's an expert at controlling a contest, but one mistake or lapse in concentration is all it takes for the underdog to take over.
Kelly has been counted out time and time again, but she will be heading to Lumpinee Stadium on August 2, ready to prove people wrong once again.
ONE Fight Night 24 will air live in US Primetime, free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.