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26 Sept 2025
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26 Sept 2025
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Darragh Kelly moved his record to 9-0 in Nantes.
A dominant Darragh Kelly maintained his unbeaten record with a swift and impressive win in France.
Kelly moved to 9-0 with a first round stoppage of Bakhtiyor Abduloev on the PFL Europe Nantes card at the Zenith Nantes Metropole.
‘The Moville Mauler’ won by submission, via a rear naked choke, just two minutes and 27 seconds into the first verse of the lightweight contest.
Kelly, who will now be eyeing a step up in class in the tough 155lb division, landed the fifth submission win of his career when he turned the tables on Abduloev after being taken to the floor himself.
The Donegal fighter landed a series of punches on Abduloev before he bit down on the rear naked choke. Soon, referee Rich Mitchell was in and Kelly toasting his second win as a PFL fighter.
SBG Ireland fighter Kelly was in controlled mood, pushing forward after an immediate right hand shot on Abduloev.
Kelly secured a take down inside the first minute only for ‘Soldier’ Abduloev to rise and bring his opponent to the mat.
The showcase bout between Kelly and Abduloev was on the undercard of the big lightweight bout between Amin Ayoub and Keweny Lopes and Kelly tipped the scales at 155.3lbs, 0.4lbs lighter than his opponent.
Kelly, though, was the bigger man and was able to impose himself on Abduloev, whose record drops to 10-2.
The 37-year-old Abduloev was in the cage for the first time since a unanimous decision win over Can Aslaner in Germany in 2022.
The Tajikistan born Abduloev, now fighting out of Germany, had only one blemish on his record as he arrived in Nantes: In December 2021, he was stopped by Michele Baiano in the fourth round of their Slam Featherweight Championship clash in Siena, Italy.
Kelly was beset by some injury woe after defeating Dmytrii Hrytsenko via unanimous decision in London last September.
Kelly, who fought under the Bellator banner, was snapped up by PFL after they acquired the Bellator franchise and he made a winning start to life under his new promotion.
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In the first of a four-fight deal with PFL, Kelly stopped Mike Hamel by a third round submission in Wichita, Kansas in June.
The 27-year-old is now 17-0 as a mixed martial artist, including nine wins in the pro ranks.
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