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Filipino mixed martial artist Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly is looking to join his Team Lakay stablemates in the ONE Championship history books as world champions, and he hopes to be able to realize that dream this year.
The hard-hitting striker is set to clash with former ONE Featherweight World Championship challenger Christian “The Warrior” Lee of Singapore in a highly-anticipated featherweight rematch at ONE: ETERNAL GLORY in Jakarta, Indonesia on 19 January.
Aside from earning another victory against Lee, the 34-year old Filipino is also out to prove that this time around, he won’t need a disqualification to win.
During their last meeting back in September of 2018, Lee was disqualified after landing a slam that was deemed illegal.
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“In our first match-up, I learned that he’s overly aggressive, so that’s what I’m preparing for,” Kelly shared on the ONE Championship website.
Kelly added that he will be watching out for the young Singaporean’s ground game as well.
“He’s explosive, and he’s good on the ground – a submission artist,” he added. “I’ll try my best not to get trapped in those submissions. I think his aggressiveness could also be his downfall.
Lee has said that he’s looking to earn a first-round finish, but Kelly believes otherwise.
“We know that Lee is aggressive and he likes to finish people, but against me, he won’t be able to get that easily,” he proclaimed. “Of course, I’m going for the win as well.”
The 34-year old Kelly will be Team Lakay’s first member to compete in 2019, after the stable’s magnificent 2018 campaign that saw them capture four world championships in ONE.
“The pressure is on us, but we need to stay focused,” Kelly maintains. “Even if we’re on the top right now, it won’t stay that way if it’s only on our minds. We need to give our all in every match, to show our true strength and how hard we trained.”
This year, Kelly hopes to be able to also hoist world championship gold, but also realizes that it won’t come easy.
“I think I need at least another win before I get that World Title shot,” he said. “However, if I would be blessed with a World Title bout already, then I would be grateful.”
