Paul Anthony Kelly (born 12 September 1984) is a retired British

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who is best known for his nine-fight stint in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

. Kelly was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for heroin trafficking in 2013. He was released in 2019.

Mixed martial arts career

Background

Coming from an amateur boxer family, Kelly grew up in boxing gyms and got in a lot of altercations in his youth. He was expelled from school and never completed his education. Kelly started out his mixed martial arts career in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England at the Wolfslair MMA academy which was once home to

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

3 winner

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English former mixed martial artist, sports commentator, analyst, and actor. He competed in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ( ...

. However, he later moved across town to Team Kaobon, home of former UFC lightweight

Terry Etim Terence Lee "Terry" Etim (born 11 January 1986) is a retired English mixed martial artist who competed as a lightweight. He is trained by Shyam Sundar and Reddy Sai Naren. Etim is a brown belt in Luta Livre under Marcelo Brigadeiro. Mixed ...

and retired UFC lightweight Paul Taylor.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

He made his UFC debut at UFC 80: Rapid Fire, where he won a decision victory over his opponent Paul Taylor. Kelly and Taylor were both awarded $35,000 as a bonus for ''Fight of the Night''. The fight was ranked #100 on UFC's Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights. Kelly was scheduled to fight

Jonathan Goulet Jonathan Goulet (born July 13, 1979) is a Canadian retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 2001 until 2010, Goulet fought in the UFC. He earned his nickname, "The Road Warrior," after taking a fight on very short notice, traveling to th ...

UFC 85 ''UFC 85: Bedlam'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 7, 2008, at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. Background The card was plagued by a number of injuries sustained by scheduled fight ...

, but Goulet pulled out citing a lack of preparation. Before another opponent was found, Kelly himself had to withdraw from the event after injuring his right hand during training. Kelly was defeated by

Marcus Davis Marcus Paul Davis (born August 24, 1973), is an American professional mixed martial artist and former professional boxer who is perhaps best known for competing in the UFC. A professional MMA competitor from 2003 until 2014, Davis also compete ...

via submission at

UFC 89 ''UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 18, 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Background The event was headlined by a middleweight ...

. Kelly defeated Troy Mandaloniz at

UFC 95 ''UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 21, 2009, at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. Background The event was broadcast live for viewers in Europe and ...

. Kelly battered Mandaloniz from top position throughout the fight. He opened cuts above both of Mandaloniz's eyes with elbows and punches. The judges scored the fight (30–27, 30–27, 30–28) for a unanimous decision for Kelly. After the fight with Mandaloniz, Kelly announced he was moving from welterweight to lightweight. Kelly said he wanted to make the drop after leaving the division on a winning note. Kelly fought

Rolando Delgado Rolando "Roli" Delgado (born November 22, 1981) is an American mixed martial arts trainer and former mixed martial artist. He fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator Fighting Championships. He was a cast member on '' The Ulti ...

UFC 99 ''UFC 99: The Comeback'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on June 13, 2009, in Cologne, Germany. Background This was the first UFC event held in Germany, as well as the first in mainland Europe (eve ...

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urba ...

. This was his first fight at

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

. Kelly defeated Roli after going all three rounds giving Kelly the unanimous decision victory. Kelly lost his fight against

Dennis Siver Dennis D. Siver (Russian: Дмитрий Сивер, tr. Dmitriy Siver, born January 13, 1979) is a retired Russian-born German mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting ...

UFC 105 ''UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 14, 2009 in Manchester, United Kingdom at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This event aired on the same day, via tape d ...

after having his ribs injured by a spinning back kick and getting hit by punches from Siver. This was his first fight under Team Kaobon. Kelly revealed afterwards that his ribs had already been damaged going into the fight, a by-product of the notoriously hard-contact sparring sessions at Kaobon. Kelly then looked to bounce back, against Matt Veach on the UFC 112 card in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. At 3:41 of the second round, Kelly pulled off a guillotine choke submission and was victorious. This was then intended to be followed up with a fight against

Jacob Volkmann Jacob Joseph Volkmann (born September 5, 1980) is an American former mixed martial artist that competed in the Welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor from 2007 to 2016, Volkmann has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, and the ...

at the UFC 116 prelims, on 3 July. However, the fight was moved on 1 August, to the UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko card due to visa issues forcing him out of the 116 card. Volkmann went on to defeat Kelly via unanimous decision (all judges scoring the bout 30–27). Kelly was expected to face Gabe Ruediger on 20 November 2010, at UFC 123. However, Ruediger was forced out of the bout with a groin injury. Ruediger was replaced by TUF 12 competitor TJ O'Brien. After initially struggling to hit O'Brien's chin, due to the height disadvantage, Kelly was able to connect and dropped O'Brien with a combination. Later in the second round, Kelly secured a crucifix and hit O'Brien with multiple elbows, resulting in a TKO stoppage. Kelly was expected to face Sam Stout on 5 February 2011, at UFC 126, but Stout was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by

Donald Cerrone Donald Anthony Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and actor. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions of the Ultima ...

. Kelly lost to Cerrone via submission due to a rear-naked choke. Although he lost, the performance earned him and Cerrone ''Fight of the Night'' honors. In the aftermath of his loss to Cerrone, Kelly was released from the promotion, leaving the company with a 5–4 record.

Post UFC

Kelly was expected to face Afakasi Sione at UCMMA 21 in England on 25 June. However, due to an injury Kelly had to withdraw from the bout. Kelly was expected to fight at Legacy FC 9 on 16 December 2011 against Jeff Rexroad. However, Kelly pulled out of the fight due to visa issues and has been replaced by Efrain Escudero, However, Efrain was re-signed to the UFC, causing him to withdraw from the bout.

Super Fight League

Kelly, along with Xavier Foupa-Pokam and Lena Ovchynnikova signed a four-fight contract with the

Super Fight League Super Fight League was a mixed martial arts promotion based in India. The organisation was formed in 2012 by actor Sanjay Dutt and British-Indian businessman Raj Kundra, and co-owned by British-Indian businessman Bill Dosanjh and British boxin ...

. He made his debut for them at SFL 2 against WEC and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

veteran

Ryan Healy Ryan Healy (born July 20, 1983) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who has competed for many promotions including Strikeforce, WEC, Shine Fights, and Full Contact Fighting Federation. He is also the twin brother of mixed-m ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

UCMMA

There has been an ongoing feud between Kelly and Richard Griffin over the last few weeks which has resulted in them being booked to fight at UCMMA 31. They were having a disagreement over a fight that Richard Griffin and Ross Pointon had in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

that was recently posted on the UCMMA Facebook page. Kelly stated that he thought Griffin was lucky in his fight with Pointon and that "The Real Deal" would win that match-up 9 times out of ten. Griffin felt disrespected and fired back with some insults of his own, which including jabs at Kelly being dropped by the UFC. Both men then called for a fight in the cage to settle the matter, in which Dave O’Donnell decided to approach both men to arrange the fight. Kelly and Griffin settled this feud on 1 December with Kelly winning via guillotine choke in the second round.

Post-conviction career

Having been active at the gym and studying

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

during his prison sentence, Kelly returned to the regional mixed martial arts competition at Probellum 1: Liverpool on 7 March 2020. Kelly faced Simone Bottino, winning the bout in the second round via technical knockout. In February 2021, Kelly announced his retirement from the sport.

Personal life

Kelly had his first child, a daughter named Phoebe in June 2008.

Drug trafficking conviction

In May 2013, Kelly was found guilty of heroin trafficking in the United Kingdom and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. However, he was put on work release in 2017 and had completed his sentence and thus released in May 2019. During his work release, he started a

healthy eating A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A he ...

restaurant in Liverpool.

Championships and accomplishments

** Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Paul Taylor and

. **UFC.com Awards ***2008: Ranked #10 Fight of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

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Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

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Auburn Hills, Michigan Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Auburn Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,360. Auburn Hills is home to ...

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Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

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Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

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UFC 80 ''UFC 80: Rapid Fire'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), that took place on January 19, 2008 at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, United Kingdom. Background The main event was originally sc ...

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, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Jordan James , TKO (punches) , Cage Gladiators 4: Prepare for Glory , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:40 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Sami Berik , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Cage Warriors: Enter The Rough House 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:27 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul 1984 births Living people 21st-century English criminals Criminals from Merseyside English drug traffickers English male criminals English male mixed martial artists English people convicted of drug offences Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Martial artists from Liverpool Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century English sportsmen