Team Lakay’s Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly is arguably one of the hardest-working athletes in ONE Championship’s featherweight division.
Unfortunately, it has not translated into a World Title run for him so far, as he dropped two of his last three bouts against top competition.
The 35-year-old will now have one more chance to regain his bearings when he faces South Korean grappler Sung Jong Lee at ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR, which takes place at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Mania on Friday, April 12.
“I failed to show what we have trained for against the top contenders of the division. Those are definitely tough losses to take, but it is a perfect opportunity for me to learn and improve,” he said.
The Baguio City native admitted that he was simply outworked by Christian “The Warrior” Lee in their rematch at ONE: ETERNAL GLORY last January, yielding to the Evolve MMA star via first-round TKO.
Before that match, Kelly defeated Lee via controversial disqualification.
That disqualification win came after he lost to another contender — former ONE Featherweight World Champion Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa, who coincidentally challenges the division’s reigning king, Martin Nguyen, for the gold in the ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR main event.
As frustrating as those losses may be, Kelly is just thankful to his head coach, Mark Sangiao, for always putting things in perspective.
“Coach Mark always tells me to not be disappointed, but instead be more motivated to become better. Losing is part of the game, which gives me the urgency to improve,” he stated.
“Regardless of the result of my previous matches, my main goal is to be a better athlete than what I am yesterday.”
Kelly knows he has let certain opportunities pass him by, and although it may hurt, the power puncher knows that no dream is easily fulfilled.
“I have wasted the opportunities ONE Championship had given me to become a title contender. Yes, it’s my dream to have a World Title strapped around my waist. It takes time and patience to get to that moment. I am willing to work for it,” he explained.
“There are things that need to be improved and skills that have to be sharpened. We are working on different things at the gym — especially my ground game, which is, for me, the main reason I lost to Lee.”
Knowing where his weaknesses lie, “The Ferocious” has been diligently strengthening them, and now, he has an ideal opportunity to begin his comeback tour in Manila.
He vows to display his sharpened skill set and restart the road back to World Title contention.
“[ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR] is the perfect event to show how hungry I am to get back on the winning track,” Kelly said. “I’ll showcase the improvements in my game, and let the rest of the division know that they can’t count me out yet.”