Acid test for Eric ‘The Natural’ Kelly in China

ERIC “The Natural” Kelly is one of the more skillful mixed martial arts fighters to ever come out of the Philippines but his true test is yet to come this Saturday at ONE Championship’s event in Hefei, China, said an analyst.

To face former ONE featherweight champion Naran-tungalag Jadam-baa of Mongolia, Mr. Kelly, 34, is to use his headlining fight at “ONE: Dynasty of Champions” at the Hefei Olympic Sports Center as a jump-off point to get another shot at the featherweight title and fulfill his goal of finally being a champion.

For fight analyst Carlos Cinco, however, while Mr. Kelly (12-2) has the tools to compete, he still must be at his utmost best against a seasoned fighter like Mr. Jadam-baa ( 11- 4), a ONE champion from August 2014 to November 2015.

“This is Eric Kelly’s toughest fight for sure. Jadam-baa is legit and very well- rounded. He has thunderous knockout power and great grappling skill. Being the former ONE Featherweight World Champion, Jadam-baa is probably a slight favorite to win this one, if we were looking at betting odds. Kelly certainly has the skill and capability to win, but it won’t be easy,” the analyst said when sought by Business World for his thoughts.

“This fight is very important for Kelly. I think if he wins this fight, he could land a shot at ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov next, depending on his performance as well. Jadam baa is a certified warrior and will not go down without a fight. He handled former lightweight champion Kote tsu Boku quite easily in his last outing, and that to me was very surprising because Boku is a really tough guy. Kelly for sure has his work cut out for him,” Mr. Cinco added.

Mr. Kelly comes into the fight off a loss by submission ( guillotine choke) to Malaysian Ev Ting in January while 40- year- old Jadam-baa won via submission through shoulder choke over Mr. Boku of Japan last month.

“I honestly can’t say [ how this fight would go]. It’s a tossup. Jadam-baa is an absolute beast. Kelly is skillfull, but is at a striking disadvantage. We could be looking at a grueling contest and I hate to pick against a Filipino but I think objectively picking a winner I’d have to go with Jadam-baa on this one. I just don’t see how Kelly will be able to get past Jadam-baa’s toughness,” Mr. Cinco said.

ONE: Dynasty of Champions marks the return of Asia’s largest MMA organization to mainland China and is going to be the sixth to be staged there.

Also on the card for Dynasty of Champions are the featherweight clash between hometown bet Li Kai Wei against Malaysian Keanu Subba, Myanmar middleweight Aung La N Sang versus Russian Aleksei Buto rin, the all-Chinese flyweight fight between Wu Ze and Zheng Xiao, American Roger FILIPINO FEATHERWEIGHT ERIC KELLY (R) faces former champion Naran-tungalag Jadam-baa of Mongolia at “ONE: Dynasty of Champions” on July 2 in China. “El Matador” Huerta and Canadian Ariel “Tarzan” Sexton in a lightweight battle, and Malaysian female flyweight Ann “Athena” Osman against Egyptian wrestler Hai-at Farag.

Meanwhile, ONE touts that it is nearing the $1-billion valuation mark which is unprecedented it said considering the company is still in its infancy.

“We are growing at tripledigit growth rates and the market opportunity is massive in Asia. There are 4.1 billion people who live here and our growth opportunities are limitless,” said ONE Founder and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong in a statement. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo