Mayssa Bastos defeats Danielle Kelly to capture ONE submission grappling world title
At ONE Fight Night 24, Mayssa Bastos earned a decision victory over Danielle Kelly to win the ONE atomweight submission grappling world title.
Mayssa Bastos is already the most decorated BJJ competitor of the sport’s lightest weight classes and she has now added ONE Championship gold to her trophy case.
On Friday, August 2, in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 24, the Brazilian scored a competitive but clear-cut decision win over reigning titleholder Danielle Kelly to claim the ONE atomweight submission grappling world title. She is the organization’s first-ever Brazilian submission grappling world champion.
Kelly came out aggressive on the feet, landing several clubbing collar ties that bordered on strikes, even drawing a warning from referee Herb Dean.
Undeterred, Bastos stuck to her game plan and began attacking from her open guard and largely forced the American on the defensive through the bout’s opening several minutes. Bastos employed a kiss of the dragon attack (AKA “inside berimbolo”) to nearly take Kelly’s back on multiple occasions but was never able to secure a clean back-take.
Around the contest’s midpoint, Kelly fell back on a clean inside heel hook attempt to earn a 1-0 lead in catches.
In response, Bastos turned up her aggression from her guard and started hunting for leg locks in addition to chasing the back. With less than two minutes remaining, Bastos found her way into a deep belly-down heel hook attempt to earn a catch and even the score at 1-1.
Both grapplers attacked with frantic aggression in the closing seconds, but neither was ultimately able to score another catch.
After 10 minutes of high-paced action, Bastos was awarded the judges’ decision on the strength of her effective work from the guard and overall aggression.
With the victory, Bastos improved to 2-0 in ONE and handed Kelly her first promotional defeat.
In terms of potential contenders, Bastos might look forward to an immediate rematch with Kelly. If that match doesn’t take place, reigning IBJJF no-gi world champion Tammi Musumeci is undefeated in ONE, holds an IBJJF win over former World Title challenger Jessa Khan, and has proven she can make the atomweight (115-pound) limit.
Bastos is next slated to compete in the 55kg division at the 2024 ADCC World Championships, set to go down on August 17-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
