Fight Magazine - Australia - April - May _

DAN KELLY

DAN KELLY

&
Ÿ
Way

BY NEIL ROOKE // PHOTOS BY GETTY

With four Olympic Games to his name, you’d think 38-year-

old judoka Daniel Kelly would be happy with his sporting

achievements, but the Melbourne native continues to be restless,

still notching up wins in top-level MMA and looking to take on

Antonio Carlos Junior when UFC touches Down Under again.

A

s a capacity crowd filed into

Etihad stadium, it was clear

that there was going to be

a spectacle on show. The

UFC had never held an event like it in

Australia, or really, the world. People

from all over the globe were talking

about the Melbourne stadium show and

that history was going to be made.

A down-to-earth judo player who

was born and bred in Melbourne got

the chance of a lifetime at UFC 193 on

15 November 2015. A few years before

he was signed to the UFC, fighting in a

mixed martial arts bout inside a fenced

enclosure in the state of Victoria was

not legal practice. So much had changed

over that time. At the age of 35, when

Daniel Kelly made a full transition to

mixed martial arts, the idea of fighting

in a UFC cage in Melbourne was

nothing but a dream.

The dream came true, and with that

opportunity came much excitement.

And so many memories. Melbourne

has always been a big part of Kelly’s

life, and after everything that went

down at UFC 193, it’s unlikely that’s

ever going to change.

“The atmosphere and the three-

minute walkout to the Octagon

[were memorable] — I won’t say that

I enjoyed it at the time, but I took

it all in and it was such a satisfying

experience, especially with getting

the win,” Kelly said. “Fighting

in the UFC is the pinnacle of the

sport, and to fight in your home

town, that was another bonus and

then a stadium show that broke

all the records — what more could

I ask for? That was fantastic and

that’ll stay with me forever.”

In his UFC 193 bout, Kelly came

away with a unanimous decision victory

over Steve Montgomery. After losing in

his previous fight by way of first-round

knockout, a win at any cost was exactly

60 | FIGHT AUSTRALIA fightaustralia.com.au