Patience a virtue as Darragh Kelly extends unbeaten run

Darragh Kelly has learned to be patient.

The ‘Moville Mauler’ moved his professional record to 5-0 on Saturday evening when stopping Jelle Zeegers in Dublin at Bellator 299.

Patience was certainly a virtue at the 3Arena as Kelly finally stopped his Dutch opponent with 78 seconds remaining in their featherweight bout.

Kelly had Zeegers on the floor and as he pounded in the punches referee Blake Grice called a halt.

Darragh Kelly punches his way to stoppage win over Jelle Zeegers

Moville mixed martial artist Darragh Kelly scored a late stoppage win against Dutchman Jelle Zeegers at 3Arena in Dublin on Saturday evening to continue his unblemished professional career

“I took my time,” Kelly told Donegal Live. “I got a read of him in the first couple of rounds. I’m happy that I took my time, played it safe and got the job done.

“When you’re in that position, you can’t get a lot of power in the shots. I was trying to use the tips of the knuckles and I cut him a few times.”

The victory was Kelly’s fourth on a Bellator card at the 3Arena. Previously, Kelly disposed of Junior Morgan, Kye Stevens and Dorval Jordan.

In June, Bellator gave their blessing for Kelly to fight out of contract and he grabbed hold of the vacant Clan Wars lightweight title with a win over Andre Ferreira.

Kelly appeared more content with his lot after exiting the cage on Saturday.

He said: “The reason that I wasn’t happy in the past is that I rushed a lot of positions, searching for the finish too quickly and trying to force it. If it had been like that in a couple of fights in the past, I might’ve lost it scrambling too early.

“I’ve got cardio for days now. I’m working with Health Matters and I know my numbers and the tests we’re doing. That was normal pace there and I don’t think I was putting too much pedal on the gas.

“When I was on his back, usually I’m able to get the body triangle and use my momentum to get on top, but he was very strong. He used a good base to try and stop me. He was good at staying straight and driving his weight back.”

Kelly was one of only two Irish winners on Saturday night alongside Ciaran Clarke. His gym, SBG, had four wins against six defeats on the card, but the Donegal man wasn’t affected by some defeats that preceded his fight.

He said: “That’s the game - 50 per cent win, 50 per cent one and you have to get on with it.”

Zeegers had been inactive in mixed martial arts since late 2021, but Kelly delved a little deeper when sizing up his man.

He said: “On paper, he was 2-2 and didn’t look special. I watched him and he had endless kickboxing fights. I knew that he was dangerous.

“He is a veteran of that game and I knew that he’d bring a lot of that over here. He is a clean striker with a lot of power. It looked like he dropped me in the third, but he just caught my kick on the way down. I took some shots, but nothing too crazy.”