ONE Championship: Lea Bivins wants MMA fight with Danielle Kelly, ‘willing to sign’ for grappling match
- Bivins dares BJJ black belt to ‘step into the Circle’ for an MMA fight, but would also accept a submission grappling match
- American atomweight will make pro MMA debut against Noelle Grandjean at ONE on Prime Video 3 on October 22 in Kuala Lumpur
Lea Bivins has yet to make her ONE Championship debut, but she is already laying the ground work for a big fight in the promotion’s atomweight division.
Bivins, 20, will make her first walk to the Circle at ONE on Prime Video 3 on Saturday, October 22 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, taking on Noelle Grandjean of the France.
It will be the decorated amateur’s first professional fight, and if it goes her way, she is hoping her fellow American Danielle Kelly will be next.
“If I had it my way, I would like to fight Danielle Kelly,” Bivins told the Post from California on Thursday. “I would love to fight her in MMA – or if she offered a grappling match, I’d be willing to sign.”
Kelly, a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, made her ONE debut in March, battling Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi to a draw in a submission grappling match.
After her bout with Yamaguchi, the 25-year-old called for a submission grappling match with atomweight MMA champion Angela Lee. But Bivins, an occasional training partner of Lee, believes Kelly should transition into MMA and work her way to the champion like anybody else.
“I see that she was trying to call Angela out for a grappling match, but I definitely think she should step into the Circle for MMA,” Bivins said.