Darragh Kelly punches his way to stoppage win over Jelle Zeegers

Darragh Kelly overcame a momentary scare to stop Jelle Zeegers at the 3Arena on Saturday evening.

The now familiar playbook of the ‘Moville Mauler’ mounting the cage in victory came out as Kelly struck for a late stoppage at Bellator 299.

After three minutes and 42 seconds of the third round, referee Blake Grice had seen enough and waved it off.

Pre-fight, Kelly noted how he had worked on his grappling while on a summer training camp in Iceland, where he worked alongside UFC ace Gunnar Nelson. His work on the ground was vital here as Kelly maintained his unblemished professional career, improving to 5-0 with his fourth win on a Bellator show.

Zeegers had given Kelly something to think about in the second, but Kelly was unbowed. With the end in sight, Kelly had control of the fight and as he unloaded a series of blows on Zeegers, Grice stepped in.

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At the time of the stoppage - with just 78 seconds to go in the bout - Kelly was 20-17 ahead on the cards of judges Derrick Hickey and David Peabody while Ron McCarthy had the Donegal man 20-18 in front.

Kelly appeared keen to get to work and Oró, Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile was still playing when he eyed up Zeegers in the cage. The Moville man emerged to the stage wearing a purposeful look, but he was pretty composed throughout and avoided forcing things against the often-awkward Zeegers.

A large contingent from Inishowen provided a raucous backdrop for Kelly, who has amassed a solid following over the last 18 months.

In June, the 25-year-old was granted permission to fight out of his Bellator contract. He went to Belfast to stop Andre Ferreira via a second round d’arce choke to win the vacant Clan Wars lightweight title.

He was back down to featherweight for his latest mission by the Dublin Docklands. Kelly tipped the scales at 145.2lbs on Friday with Zeegers weighing in 0.2lbs heavier.

Previously, the SBG Dublin-prepared Kelly - who had John Kavanagh and Dave Roche in his corner - defeated Junior Morgan and Kye Stevens in this cage before recording a third round stoppage of Dorval Jordan at Bellator 291 in February.

The 28-year-old Zeegers arrived in Dublin with a 2-2 record and without a pro MMA fight since a November 2021 loss to Ahmad Abbas in Germany. However, it wasn’t quite 22 months of inactivity with Zeegers having kept his sharpness honed in kickboxing.

Kelly expected ’Barbarious’, who fights out of Tilburg, Netherlands, to be ‘the most aggressive’ opponent of his Bellator career.

The exact future of the Bellator promotion is shrouded in uncertainty amid rumours of a potential acquisition by the Professional Fighters League (PFL), while some have said Bellator could even fold completely after Bellator 301 in Chicago on November 17.

Kelly was 9-0 as an amateur and, while the future may be unclear, he has left himself in good stead.