Jessa Khan has won gold at the IBJJF World Championships. The Cambodian/American was competing as a black belt in this competition for the first time.
Earlier this year Khan won a gold medal at the SEA Games representing Cambodia. But the competition at this tournament would have been much stiffer and she sounded delighted to have emerged as the winner.
Writing on Instagram the 21 year old said that,
It’s been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl. I still don’t think it’s hit me that I just accomplished my life long goal of becoming a black belt world champion.
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Final second
Khan was competing in the 118lbs category. In total there were 16 grapplers participating in the tournament meaning that she had to beat four different BJJ black belts to take home the gold medal.
She faced old adversary Thamires Aquino in the final and won on points after securing a sweep in the final second. Khan has been signed to ONE Championship for over a year but has yet to make her debut.
Khan admitted she had found it tough going as a black belt. Having been able to win easily when she was moving up the ranks the 21 year old struggled at first against the division’s elite.
She even thought about calling time on her competitive career,
It’s sad to even say this, but just a few months ago I was actually considering to stop competing. I even bought a course to get my real estate license to try to become a agent and I spoke to professor Gui about just working the front desk at AOJ, I really considered doing something else. It’s just after so many losses and not enjoying training anymore you start to think if you should even keep doing it.
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No regrets
After a long period of reflection Khan decided that she could not give up on her dream of becoming a black belt world champion,
I did a lot of reflecting the last few months leading up to worlds. I knew deep down that I would regret it if I did not try my very best to accomplish that goal.
Khan cannot have any regrets now after realizing her dream in the most dramatic manner. With the SEA Games and the IBJJF World Championships she has clearly had a very busy schedule but we surely won’t have to wait too long to see the 21 year old make her long awaited ONE Championship debut.
