MMA: Kelly aims to restore Pinoy pride in ONE FC Taipei main event

Let's get one thing out of the way before we talk about Pinoy MMA fighter Eric Kelly: don't let the name fool you. Kelly is a 100% homegrown Filipino from Baguio, not an overseas-born Pinoy. He says real ancestral name is “Kili,” but somewhere along the line it got westernized to “Kelly.” He's fluent in both Ilocano and Kankana-ey.

Kelly hopes to honor his name and his country on Friday when he takes on Australian Rob Lisita in ONE FC: War of Dragons in the NTU Sports Center in Taipei, Taiwan in a featherweight clash that is the main event of the evening's hostilities.

Unlike many of the fighters out of Baguio, Kelly, 32, isn't from Team Lakay. Instead he hails from Tribal Submission gym in the Baguio Convention Center. The featherweight (145 lb) is friends with the Lakay boys, namely Eduard Folayang, Kevin Belingon, coach Mark Sangiao, and even Honorio Banario, the man who denied Kelly a belt.

In Kuala Lumpur on a sultry Februrary even last year, Banario and Kelly squared off in a five-round bout for the ONE FC Featherweight belt. Kelly had home-ring advantage, since at that time he lived and worked in Malaysia as an MMA instructor. Friends and colleagues were in attendance at the Stadium Negara, in the shadow of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

It was a cagey affair, with both Filipinos hesitant to attack. But the end came suddenly, and for Kelly, shockingly.

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Banario landed a strike on the right side of Kelly's face, causing him to recoil in pain and cover his eye. The referee stopped the contest and minutes later, Banario had the belt around his waist.

Kelly, a former Wushu World Championship bronze medalist, admits that after the hit, he was momentarily blinded in his right eye. And there was more to the defeat than his Baguio native's strike.

“Kulang ang training ko. Katatapos lang laban ko (a submission win over Brad Terrey in a Universal Reality Combat Championship card on December 1, 2012). Kinon-firm ng January, at gusto ko talagang lumaban.”

(I didn't train enough. I had just finished my fight with Terrey. It was confirmed only in January, and I really wanted to fight.)

Kelly actually hurt his eye against Terrey, and he disregarded doctor's orders to rest for a while and fought Banario, aggravating the injury. (His eye is now back to normal.)

Since then Kelly has moved back to Baguio after living in Kuala Lumpur. He readily confesses that being close to his wife and kids brings him terrific peace of mind. Kelly has only one tattoo on his body, a yin and yang symbol on one hand. He says it symbolizes balance, and perhaps he has discovered that living amongst the pines.

Kelly made only one appearance in the ring since the Banario loss, a submission victory against Jianbo Lu in another URCC fight card last November. And he is ready for Lisita.

“Brawler siya” says Banario of Lisita, who is a year younger and has a 14-5 record with four knockouts and seven wins via submission. “Ang nakikita ko sa kanya, 'go for the kill' siya.” (I can see that he has a 'go for the kill' mentality.)

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Nowhere was that more evident last May in ONE FC: Rise of Heroes in the SM Mall of Asia Arena, when Lisita squared off against Japan's Yusuke Kawanago in a rematch of their battle from two years earlier. In that encounter Kawanago outpointed Lisita as the fight went to the judges' cards. But in Manila, Lisita wouldn't allow that to happen. He attacked from the opening bell and took just 28 seconds to drive his opponent to the canvas for a shockingly quick victory.

No doubt the Aussie from New South Wales and fighting out of Phuket Top Team will be brimming with confidence in the match against Kelly.

Kelly says that while Lisita will have a “go for the kill” mindset, the Filipino will “go with the flow” and adjust his gameplan according to Lisita's moves. Kelly is being cornered by his coach Christian Gazmin and is also being supported by an international cast of friends, namely David Gilinsky, Mark Glean, Mike Bugnosen, Ian Bernardez, Ed Avila, Bob Teahouse, and a friend identified only as Chef-ro. Kelly also gives big shoutouts of thanks to his supporters in Malaysia, Paul Teo, Alex Wong, Dax Mohammad and Mohammad Hazrul.

Kelly also mentions that the Malaysian government supports their athletes, and he longs for similar backing in the Philippines.

"Kahit di ka kilala, sinusuportahan ka ng gobyerno sa Malaysia. Dito, aasa ka sa mga kaibigan mo." (Even if you're unknown, the government will support you. Here you have to rely on friends.)

There will be other big fights as well on the Taipei card. Brazil's Rafael Nunes faces Japan's Koji Ando in the lightweight division, while bantamweights Yusup Saadulaev of Russia and Koetsu Okazaki of Japan will lock horns. In another highly anticipated showdown, Mohamed Ali of Egypt will test his skills against American Jake Butler in the light heavyweight class.

But the evening will end with Kelly trying to get his ONE FC career back on track with a win over Lisita. It's thought that the winner of this bout could conceivably challenge Koji Oishi, the current ONE FC featherweight champ, for the belt. Oishi defeated Banario for the belt and then successfully defended against the Pinoy in a rematch.

Pinoy MMA fans hope that after the dust settles on Friday night, it's Kelly, not Lisita, who will have his arm raised by the referee. It could be the first step in getting the featherweight ONE FC belt back around a Filipino waist.

Watch ONE FC: War of Dragons live on Star Sports on Friday, July 11 starting at 8 pm. Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.