Darragh Kelly annoyed by 'simple mistakes' in win over Stevens

Although he took a dominant win to maintain his unbeaten record, Darragh Kelly delivered a harsh assessment of his performance on Friday night.

Scorecards of 30-27, 30-26, 30-26 reflected a deserved unanimous decision for Kelly as he overcame Kye Stevens at the 3 Arena.

Kelly, though, was disappointed not to have stopped Stevens. The Bellator 285 card was the first time Kelly has gone to the judges’ cards in his career, either as an amateur of professional.

“I made simple mistakes,” Kelly said.

“I shot myself in the foot there. I’m very disappointed in myself because I always strive for perfection. That was far from perfect.

Dominant Darragh Kelly defeats Kye Stevens at Bellator 285

'The Moville Mauler' Darragh Kelly overcame Kye Stevens by unanimous decision at the 3Arena in Dublin.

“I had a lot of things planned and how I was going to reward myself, but I won’t get any of those rewards. I’ll get right back to the trenches and punish myself for that.

“Nobody wants to see that. Kye is tough, but that shouldn’t have been a competitive fight. I should’ve got him out in the first round.

“I could have bought into my own hype. I was 1-5 in the bookies, but f*** that. I need to get back to work. If I want to keep climbing at the same rate, I have to keep putting in the grind. I have to work every single man in the gym. That was a wake-up call. I’ve got the win, but I have learned the lessons.”

Kelly was backed by a huge support that outlined his growing reputation in the sport.

The Moville Mauler might have closed the bout in the second round when he had Stevens against the cage under a barrage of elbow shots. With the end nigh in the third and final verse, Kelly looked like he might record a late stoppage, but Stevens was able to see the final bell.

Kelly said: “I was trying to bridge underneath him to get the choke. I thought I had it sank in. He was just too close to the cage. I should have wrapped his legs and that would’ve been that. It was close.

“He was close to tapping and I almost had him. I should have wrapped the legs better. I was a bit over excited maybe and he was able to escape.

“I was over-anxious when I should have been controlled. I was trying to do damage. He wasn’t controlled, but I allowed him to get back to his feet. I should have been able to finish it instead of getting him back into the fight.

“I am hard on myself, but I would have rather have got the finish.”

The 15 minutes of cage time will stand to the 24-year-old, who was back at the scene of a debut win over Junior Morgan in February.

Kelly had a long wait for his second bout under the Bellator banner. His preparation was disrupted by an infection that necessitated a course of antibiotics. Excuses, though, aren’t Kelly’s forte.

He said: “Cardio wasn’t the issue there. It was technical errors, but they’re simple things that I’ll fix and get back to finishing ways again.

“It is valuable to get the 15 minutes. When I sit back and look at it, I might feel different. Just now, I’m a wee bit disappointed because I wanted to put on a show. I get a lot of support coming from home. I really wanted to make them proud of me.”