'Moville Mauler' Darragh Kelly to headline PFL Belfast card against Jay Jay Wilson

Darragh Kelly will top the bill at PFL Belfast in April.

The undefeated ‘Moville Mauler’ will clash with Jay Jay Wilson at the SSE Arena on April 16.

Number 4 ranked Paul Hughes was due to headline against Wilson, but an injury has forced Hughes to withdraw.

Now, 27-year-old Kelly will step in to take on Wilson. The dangerous New Zealander is number 6 ranked and comes in with a record of 11-2.

This will be Kelly’s first PFL headliner - and represents a big chance for the Donegal fighter. 

In September, Kelly, who is number 8 in the PFL lightweight rankings, bagged a first round stoppage of Bakhtiyor Abduloev in the Zenith Nantes Metropole arena in France.

Kelly, now 9-0 as a professional, needed only two minutes and 27 seconds to take out Abduloev having stopped Mike Hamel in the third round in Kansas back in June of last year.

He said after the win over Abduloev: “I was firing on all cylinders in France and it’s all a learning curve. With PFL, I could fight again in a couple of months now or it could be a waiting game; we’ll see.”

Kelly was backed by scores from across Inishowen who travelled to France for the fight and they will now get to see their man in a close-to-home fight.

After winning in France, Kelly said: “The support from home is massive. I missed that when I fought in America.”

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‘The Maori Kid’ Wilson is a 28-year-old who lost to Archie Colgan by decision last October in Dubai.

PFL Belfast will be available in the U.S. on ESPN2, the ESPN App and ESPN Deportes.

Former Bellator world title challenger Pedro Carvalho steps in to face Kelly’s original opponent Sergio Cossio.