Jessamine Jada Khan (born 8 October 2001), often shortened as Jessa Khan ( km, ខាន់ ចេសា, Khăn Chésa ), is an American-born Cambodian jiu-jitsu athlete. She is the 2023 IBJJF World Champion.

Career

Khan represented Cambodia at the 2018 Asian Games and claimed a gold medal in the women's 49kg ne-waza event. This was also the first gold medal to be received by

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

which happened to be unexpected in the sport of ju-jitsu during the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

. Khan is a second Gold Medal Cambodia's Asian Games history after Taekwondo Gold 2014. She is a daughter of a Mexican American mother with Cambodian American father. She began jiu-jitsu training at age 12. On October 6, 2020, Khan was awarded her black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by her coaches, the

Mendes brothers Art of Jiu Jitsu (AOJ) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy and team started in 2012 by black belt world champion brothers Rafael and Guilherme Mendes together with RVCA founder PM Tenore. The academy is known for developing young grapplers for w ...

, just two days before her nineteenth birthday.

Personal life

Khan was born in Texas and resides in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

Black belt career

On February 26, 2021, Khan made her debut appearance on

Who's Number One FloSports is an over-the-top subscription sports broadcaster and streaming service. The company is based in Austin, Texas, United States, and was founded in 2006. FloSports streams live sporting events to audiences around the world. History L ...

, defeating Danielle Kelly by unanimous decision. She competed at Evolve Ur Game on April 3, 2021 in a superfight against

Mayssa Bastos Mayssa Bastos (born 23 October 1997) is a Brazilian submission grappler and black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor. Bastos has won almost every single major jiu-jitsu tournaments in both Gi and No-Gi. She is the current roosterweight World ...

, losing on points. She returned to Who's Number One on May 28, 2021, defeating Patricia Fontes with an armbar. This performance earned Khan the invitation to compete for the inaugural WNO women's strawweight title at the WNO Championships. Khan submitted Jessica Crane with a heelhook in the opening round, but was submitted by Grace Gundrum in the semifinal with a twister and was submitted by Amanda 'Tubby' Alequin in the consolation match with a toehold. In May, 2022 Khan became one of the first grapplers to sign a contract with

ONE Championship ONE Championship (formerly ONE Fighting Championship) is a Singaporean combat sports promotion. Founded on 14 July 2011 by entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, its events have featured mixed ...

. The promotion booked a rematch with Alequin for her debut at

ONE 159 ''ONE 159: de Ridder vs. Bigdash'' was a Combat sport event produced by ONE Championship that took place on July 22, 2022, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Background A ONE Championship#Current champions, ONE Middleweight W ...

on July 22, 2022, but the match fell through when Alequin withdrew due to an undisclosed medical issue. Khan competed in the 2023 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championship, winning a bronze medal in the women's roosterweight division. At the IBJJF Santa Cruz International Open on April 22nd, 2023, Khan won gold in the light-featherweight division. Khan returned to the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

in 2023 to represent Cambodia once again, winning silver in the gi ne-waza event and gold in the no gi ne-waza event. She donated her winnings from the event to the

Cambodian Red Cross The Cambodian Red Cross (CRC; km, កាកបាទក្រហមកម្ពុជា, ) is the largest humanitarian organization in Cambodia. Established on 18 February 1955, it is officially recognized by the Royal Government as the pri ...

. Khan competed in the

IBJJF World Championship The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship (commonly known as the Worlds or Mundials) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held once every year by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered to be the most important and ...

2023 on June 3 and 4, 2023 and won a gold medal in the light-featherweight division. Khan was booked to compete against Danielle Kelly in a rematch for the inaugural

Atomweight submission grappling title at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29, 2023. Khan lost the match by decision.

References

2001 births Living people Cambodian female martial artists Ju-jitsu practitioners at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Cambodia Sportspeople from Texas Asian Games medalists in ju-jitsu American sportspeople of Mexican descent American people of Cambodian descent Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games SEA Games gold medalists for Cambodia Asian people of Mexican descent Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions (women) {{Cambodia-sport-bio-stub