A preliminary match between black belts Jessa Khan and Danielle Kelly at Who’s Number One: Craig Jones Vs. Ronaldo Junior was packed with back-and-forth action. When it was all over, Khan had won her black belt debut after a tough battle
Both competitors opted to stay on the feet at the start of the match. At about a minute in, Kelly went for a takedown, and Khan pulled guard and briefly went for a guillotine before Kelly managed to pull her head out. The athletes went to the ground with Kelly in Khan’s guard, and after a few minutes, Kelly got to her feet and opened the guard. Khan quickly inverted and transitioned to a kneebar, but Kelly escaped, and Khan was forced to move to 50/50 before again going after the leg, this time attacking a heel hook that Kelly slipped out of. They returned to the feet and were reset after going out of bounds.
Kelly went for another takedown, and Khan countered with a guillotine attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful. Another takedown attempt from Kelly brought the match back to the ground with her again inside Khan’s closed guard. Khan made a snappy transition to an armbar from the guard, and Kelly stacked her to protect herself. Khan returned to holding Kelly in closed guard with a body triangle, then pulled her close for an attempt at an Ezekiel choke from the guard. Khan continued to threaten submissions from the bottom until Kelly made the choice to get to her feet, there managing to open Khan’s guard. Khan went for a kneebar, then transitioned to a toehold as Kelly slipped away from the first threat. After the toehold failed, Khan went for another kneebar, and Kelly got up and tried to pass Khan’s guard after escaping her submission attempts.
As the clock wound down to the four-minute mark, Khan sat back for an outside heel hook. After escaping danger, Kelly countered with a heel hook of her own, which was then countered by another leg lock attempt from Khan, who then briefly transitioned to a straight ankle lock. As Kelly scrambled to her feet, Khan got up with her and took her back to the ground in side control. With under two minutes to go, Khan moved to mount and then to the back, locking in a body triangle. Kelly, however, was then able to move back to a forward-facing position, returning to battle from inside Khan’s closed guard. In the last ten seconds of the match, Kelly tried for one more leg lock, but was unable to secure a submission before time ran out.
Jessa Khan was declared the winner of the match by unanimous decision.
