Kelly filled the void left by compatriot Paul Hughes
and did so with a smile on his face.
The undefeated
SBG Ireland standout will put his perfect 9-0 record on the
line as a late-notice substitution for the
Professional Fighters League when he takes Hughes’ place at the
top of the ticket and squares off with Jay-Jay
Wilson in the
PFL Belfast main event on Thursday at the SSE Arena in Northern
Ireland. Kelly, 28, boasts seven finishes among his nine career
victories. He last saw action at PFL Europe 3, where he dispatched
Bakhtiyar
Abdulloev with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
Sept. 26 pairing. Kelly trains under John
Kavanagh, the same man who oversaw Conor
McGregor’s rise to power in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Wilson, meanwhile, enters the cage with high hopes of his own. The
28-year-old New Zealand native has rattled off three wins across
his past four appearances, a decision loss to the unbeaten Archie
Colgan at PFL Champions Series 3 in October his only misstep.
Wilson has secured eight of his 11 professional victories by
knockout, technical knockout or submission, five of them inside one
round.
The 12-fight lineup at PFL Belfast features several fighters on the
rise, with Kelly and Wilson at or near the front of the line. Three
others to monitor:
Eoin
Sheridan
Welterweight | 4-0 (2-0 PFL)
Sheridan carries a fair amount of hype. The 6-foot-5 SBG Ireland
rep returns to the PFL stage for the first time in nearly a year
when he locks horns with Chris Mixan
in a three-round welterweight prelim. Sheridan, 31, last competed
on Oct. 18, when he took care of Felipe da
Silva Maia with a first-round rear-naked choke under the
Academy Fighters Championship banner. “The Sheriff” spars regularly
with the aforementioned McGregor. Mixan figures to provide his
sternest test to date. The 27-year-old Floridian steps onto the
battlefield on the heels of back-to-back victories over Joey Hart and
Kendly St.
Louis.
Ciaran
Clarke
Bantamweight | 10-0 (0-0 PFL)
Perhaps absence made the heart grow fonder in Clarke’s case. The
undefeated Irishman closes the book on a 579-day period of
inactivity and draws his draws his first assignment in the PFL when
he confronts former Hexagone MMA champion Dean
Garnett at 135 pounds as part of the undercard. Clarke has not
fought since he outpointed Tuomas
Gronvall to a unanimous decision at a Bellator
MMA show on Sept. 14, 2024. Fully recovered from the knee
injury that sidelined him for more than a year, the Drogheda,
Ireland, native has nailed down exactly half (five) of his 10
career victories by submission. Garnett, 37, now stands in his
path. The Team McHale export finds himself on the rebound following
a 44-second technical knockout loss to Baris
Adiguzel at PFL Lyon on Dec. 13.
Omran
Chaaban
Welterweight | 9-1 (0-0 PFL)
Chaaban could do no more on the regional scenes in Europe in the
Middle East. The Team KF Martial Arts prospect makes his
anticipated promotional debut when he toes the line against
Chequina Noso Pedro in a three-round welterweight prelim.
Chaaban, 25, last suited up on July 23, when he needed just 46
seconds to cast aside Wellington
Madeira with leg kicks at a UAE Warriors event. It was his
fourth first-round finish as a pro. In Pedro, he faces a
Brave Combat Federation alum who operates out of the BA Army
camp in Holland. The 32-year-old Angolan last strapped on the
gloves at PFL Europe 2, where he was awarded a unanimous verdict
over Khamzat
Abaev on July 5.
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