well at 10 fights, and the money’s
still good, I’ll just keep going on. I’m
at four fights now, this is my fifth
coming up, so I’m halfway there.”
For his UFC Fight Night 85 bout on
20 March, Kelly is set to meet Antonio
Carlos Jr., who was The Ultimate
Fighter: Brazil Season 3 winner. Carlos
was signed to the UFC after competing
just three times as a professional
and started his UFC career in the
heavyweight division. With his world
championship grappling credentials,
Kelly knows how this fight is likely
to play out, but no matter what his
opponent wants to do, Kelly knows
that if he controls the fight, he can
walk away with another UFC win to
his name.
“I’ll be careful of some of the
takedowns I do,” Kelly said. “I’m not
scared of anyone if I end up on top in
a good position, but there’re certain
things that I’ll make sure happen
when I’m on the ground. I don’t
wanna be underneath him, but I think
he’s gonna try and take me down
if he doesn’t do well in the striking
exchanges, but I’ll just look to impose
my game whenever I need to.”
His upcoming fight in Brisbane
marks the third time out of four UFC
appearances that Kelly has fought on
home soil. Just one of his 11 professional
mixed martial arts fights has taken place
outside of Australia and for Kelly it’s not
that he doesn’t want to travel the world
— he’s done that throughout his sporting
life; he just takes the fights as they come,
and ideally, over the next 12 months,
the fights will be coming thick and fast,
so the opportunity to fight around the
globe is sure to present itself when the
moment is right. For now, though, there
are more immediate benefits to fighting,
and preparing in Australia.
“It’s cheaper,” Kelly said. “I don’t
mind. I travelled my whole career doing
judo and competed overseas, so it doesn’t
bother me that much. It’s cheaper and a
little bit easier but after this year I wannahave a crack at fighting overseas. I’d love
to fight in Vegas on one of the big cards
there; I’d love to fight in Europe.
“I asked to be on this card. It’s a
hard matchup but it’s a good matchup
for me,” Kelly continued. “This is the
show I wanted to be on. This guy is a
BJJ world champion; he’s got heavy
hands and he’s young — the last guy
I fought was also young but I’ve got
13 years on him. He’ll be emotional,
he’ll be volatile, he’ll be very good
on the ground. I’ve just gotta make
sure I’m smarter, more mature and
make sure I’m in good shape. It’s
always fun with jiu-jitsu and judo
showdowns, so it’ll be a fun fight.”CONNECT WITH US
FightAustralia fightaustralia“I WANT A MINIMUM OF 10 FIGHTS IN THE UFC.
IF I’M STILL DOING WELL AT TEN FIGHTS, AND THE
MONEY’S STILL GOOD I’LL JUST KEEP GOING ON.”
Dan Kelly at the 2000 OlympicsDAN KELLY
fightaustralia.com.au FIGHT AUSTRALIA | 65