MANILA, Philippines – ONE Championship has yet to announce bouts for its 9th trip to the Philippines on December 2, but Filipino fighter Eric Kelly is throwing his name into the mix.
Kelly wants to be part of the card as it has been a long time since he last fought on home soil.
The 34-year-old Baguio City native was last seen strutting his wares in front of Filipino mixed martial arts (MMA) fans when he submitted China's Jianbo Lu with a first-round armbar in November 2013 under the Universal Reality Combat Championship banner.
Kelly also competed at ONE Championship's first Philippine live event in August 2012, stopping ex-UFC lightweight titleholder Jen Pulver in the second round.
"Why not? It has been a long time since I fought in front of Pinoy fans. Of course, I miss the feeling that the whole arena is cheering for me," he told Rappler.
Kelly was originally penciled in to fight on the undercard of ONE Championship's "Global Rivals" event in Manila last April, but his opponent Timofey Nastyukhin withdrew from the bout as he could not comply with the promotion's new weigh-in policy and did not meet the weight limit at the pre-fight check.
Widely regarded as one of the most talented products of the Philippine MMA scene, Kelly had a rough 2016 so far as he is currently reeling from a string of setbacks.
Kelly yielded to Malaysian-Kiwi sensation Ev Ting via third-round submission in January before he suffered a painful defeat at the hands of former ONE Championship featherweight kingpin Jadambaa Narantungalag by way of 44-second knockout last July.
Although Kelly leaves the final decision in letting him compete on the upcoming fight card to ONE Championship, he sees it as a potential defining moment in his 7-year prizefighting career.
Kelly seeks to return to his winning ways before a sold-out crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
"It's still up to ONE Championship. As long as they will give me enough time to prepare, I'm down to fight. And breaking my losing streak in the Philippines will be perfect to end my 2016," he stated. – Rappler.com