Darragh Kelly will 'put the foot down' after shining in London

Darragh Kelly wants to keep upping the ante after claiming a significant win in London at the weekend.

The 'Moville Mauler' took an impressive points win over Dmytrii Hrytsenko, taking the Ukrianian's unbeaten record out at the OVO Wembley Arena.

Kelly now stands 7-0 as a pro and has an as yet unblemished 16-0 record as a mixed martial artist.

“This is where I am now and I'll keep improving at a steady rate,” Kelly said.

“I'll put the foot down and see what improvements can be made and get some even bigger names. I have two fights left on a four-fight deal. I'll get them done and see what the next offer is.

“I only started this when I was 18 and I'm still growing in the sport. I'm in this for the long haul. I have 10 years left in me.”

Hrytsenko touched down in London boasting a 9-0 record and was touted as having a Bellator ranking awaiting him.

Yet, Hrytsenko was beaten by a keen Kelly, who admitted before the fight that he was rolling the dice in this bout.

He said: “I was offered three guys before this fight and I knew he was the toughest. I would always say to people to take the easy fights because the hard ones will come, but this fight went against that.

“When I got offered a 9-0 fighter, it really lit the fire. He is solid. I'm not sure what it does for my career, but it definitely pushes me forward. I was a 2/1 underdog, but I knew that this was the right time to take a test. I'm just glad that I showed what I can do.”

Hrytsenko was deducted a point for a low blow in the third having ducked sanction for similar discrepancies earlier in the fight.

“A couple of times, he grazed and I didn't complain,” Kelly said. “He hit me at the end of the second and it was a bad shot.

“The ref' didn't call it so I said I'd make a deal of the next couple. I needed a break after that one at the end of the second. I was still feeling it at the start of the third.

“It was frustrating me. I just said 'keep fighting here' because he wasn't going to call it. I just had to get back to it and play the game as it's played.

“I knew I would take a few shots there, but I feel good. There's nothing major bar a few guts and scrapes. That's two fights back-to-back so I'll enjoy the next while and get back to training again.

“That's exactly what I was expecting, but I did think that he would be a wee bit stronger. I noticed that I could manhandle him. I knew then that I could overpower him. I was the better athlete and I had more dog in me.”

After beating Mathias Poiron in June, Kelly stayed in camp. The Straight Blast Gym fighter was outside of Ireland for the first time in his career, but was delighted with his night's work under the lights of London.

He said: “I have been working with Dave (Roche) and Jordan (Moore), we've been doing this for 10 weeks. We've been studying him and we knew those shots would land. I just didn't think that they'd land as often and as clean as they did.”