Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 28) – Filipino mixed martial arts fighter Edward Kelly scored his comeback win on Friday in ONE Championship’s Full Blast event held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The 37-year-old Kelly received the nod of two of the fight’s three judges to score a split decision victory over Egyptian opponent Ahmed Faress in their featherweight clash.
Kelly was floored early in the first round with a surprising right hook from Faress. But the Filipino recovered to connect with a leg kick and land a takedown.
Near the end of the first round, Kelly unintentionally caught Faress with a low kick to the groin. As the match restarted, the Egyptian attempted a flying knee, only to be countered with two short hooks from Kelly.
In the second round, Kelly found himself in a precarious position, as Faress locked the Filipino in a deep triangle choke. But the Team Lakay fighter was able to survive the submission attempt by the Egyptian.
Faress was visibly exhausted entering the third round after his failed submission try against Kelly, which the Filipino took advantage of. Kelly threw striking kicks at Faress’ legs, while pouncing the Egyptian with a barrage of body shots until the final buzzer.
Kelly’s victory snapped his two-game losing streak in ONE Championship. He lost to Chinese featherweights Xie Bin and Kai Tang in 2019.
Kelly improved his win-loss-draw record to 13-8-0, while Faress dropped to a 16-4-0 slate.
