Fighters Only

Issue 049

May 2009

STATISTICS

Name: Paul Kelly

Age: 24

Height: 5’ 9”

Category: Welterweight

Record: 9-1-0

Fighting Style: Boxing / submission grappling

Fights out of: Liverpool, UK

Active since: 2005

One of the most exciting English fighters in the UFC, Paul Kelly has impressed fans with his hard-hitting style. With three fights in the UFC at only 24 years of age, Kelly opened his time with the UFC by putting on one of the most exciting fights the promotion has ever seen. Going up against Paul Taylor, Kelly stood and traded with the vaunted kickboxer and put on what Joe Rogan called “the most exciting first 30 seconds of a fight” he’d ever seen.

Since then, Kelly lost by submission to the crafty veteran Marcus Davis, but bounced back with a solid win over the tough-as-nails Troy ‘Rude Boy’ Mandaloniz. Kelly, fighting with a damaged right hand, battered the BJ Penn-trained Hawaiian with some horrific bodyshots in the stand-up and some slicing elbows on the ground.

One of the new breed of young, entertaining fighters to have come from the UK, Kelly (who fights out of the Wolfslair, along with Michael Bisping, Rampage Jackson and more) looks set to become a regular feature on the English events.

Chin

In his own words, you have to “kill” him to stop him. Not adverse to taking a shot if it means he can give you one (or two, or three) back. This toughness means he can stand and trade without fear.

Heart

They say it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Paul impressed his coaches at the Wolfslair in the tough early days of training by battling through the hard sparring sessions without complaint. He went on to prove himself as one of the toughest young fighters in the UK.

Right elbow

One of his best weapons, Paul is deadly with his elbows. He will smash them into his opponents when grappling, as shown when he opened up a series of savage cuts on Troy Mandaloniz’s face.

Core

Very difficult to hold on his back, Kelly has a monster bridge. “I don’t have much jiu-jitsu,” he said. “But I do have good ground defence.”