Jessa Khan’s ONE Championship debut ‘set for another day’

The much-anticipated ONE Championship debut for Cambodian-American jiu-jitsu prodigy Jessa Khan will have to wait longer. 

Khan, 20, was supposed to face Ecuadorean star Amanda Alequin on July 22 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. 

Many Cambodians were eagerly awaiting the bout, with martial arts among the most popular sports in this Kingdom of 16 million people. 

The Singapore-based ONE Championship, a MMA promoter/organiser in Asia, also has a large following in Cambodia. 

ONE Championship bouts, whose popularity in the region has grown exponentially the last few years, is slowly coming back, after being sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic for the better part of 2020 and 2021. 

Well-known Cambodian martial artists Chan Rothana and Nou Sreypov competed under the ONE Championship banner in the past. 

The Khan-Alequin submission grappling pairing was supposed to be part of ONE 159: De Ridder vs Bigdash, a major mixed-martial arts (MMA) competition featuring some of the top athletes in the world. 

The event was subsequently held without Khan, after the surprise withdrawal of Alequin due to an undisclosed medical issue. 

It was supposed to be a ‘revenge match’ for Khan, who lost to Alequin in the Who’s Number One Championship in September 2021. 

The Khan versus Alequin fight was among the two bouts that were removed from the list. A heavyweight MMA match between Brazilian fighter Anderson Silva and American martial artist Mikhail Jamal Abdul- Latiff was also cancelled, due to an injury suffered by Abdul-Latif prior to the event. 

Will Khan recover from earlier setbacks?

This is the latest setback for Khan, whose career on the ring had its own share of up-and downs in the last few months. 

In May, Khan failed to defend her title as one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in Southeast Asia, after she was disqualified from competing in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam. 

Khan was disqualified from competing in the SEA Games after exceeding the weight limit in the 48kg category by a mere 240g. 

Khan, who was born to a Cambodian-American father and a Mexican-American mother, won a gold medal for Cambodia in the 2019 Philippines SEA Games and in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

In the past, Khan has distinguished herself in many local and international competitions, including the  European Championship, PAN American Championship, World Championship, Las Vegas Open, among other tournaments. In the process, Khan become of the most well-known names in the sport. 

Khan’s last major win was a gold medal finish in the 2022 PAN American Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the United States (US) in April. She also topped her weight division in the American National International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Championship 2021 late last year. 

Those were the lone bright spots for an otherwise ‘bleak months’ for Khan, who lost thrice to Brazilian jiu-jitsu superstar Mayssa Bastos. 

Khan lost to Bastos in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam-Miami, IBJJF 2021 No-Gi PAN American and in another tournament staged by Evolve Ur Game Promotions. She also lost a couple of fights to Chinese-American athlete Grace Gundrum and Alequin. 

An injury forced her to withdraw from an impending bout against Gundrum in April 2021. 

It remains to be seen on when Khan will be able to take part in a ONE Championship event. 

American fighter Danielle Kelly, an old rival, debuted with ONE Championship in March and has expressed her willingness to face Khan again.

Let’s see if a fight between the two could be in the ONE Championship cards in the next few months.