NEW YORK: The Professional Fighters League has announced the full card for PFL Belfast on Thursday, April 16 at the SSE Arena.
Donegal’s undefeated No. 7 ranked Darragh “The Moville Mauler” Kelly (9-0) steps up to the biggest opportunity of his career as he headlines PFL Belfast opposite the dangerous New Zealander, No. 8 ranked Jay Jay “The Maori Kid” Wilson (11-2) in a three-round lightweight match-up.
Kelly’s overpowering style of MMA has allowed him to stay undefeated in all nine of his professional bouts, stopping seven of those opponents before the final bell. A powerful lightweight, the Moville local fights with a heavy forward pressure, looking to throw big and dominate the grappling exchanges. Answering the call to switch opponents on three weeks’ notice, Kelly is looking to build momentum with a win and hunt down the PFL lightweight world championship.
Wilson has never been stopped in his 13 professional bouts. With serious power in his hands, and the ability to end a fight on the ground, he has four finishes via KO/TKO and four finishes via submission. With only two losses on his record to elite fighters including undefeated No. 2 ranked Gadzhi Rabadanov and No. 3 ranked Archie Colgan, “The Maori Kid” always comes to fight with the aim of separating his opponent from his consciousness.
The co-main event promises fireworks at catchweight (176 lbs), as Ballymena’s Rhys “Skeletor” McKee (14-7-1) makes his PFL debut against France’s Alex “Da Killa King” Lohore (26-11).
McKee is a former UK champion who has never needed the judges in any professional victory as his record boasts 11 KO/TKOs and three submissions in 14 wins. He promises to put on a show in Belfast as he fights in his home country on a global platform for the first time. Lohore is the current interim super welterweight champion of Brave Comat Federation and is confident he has the style and experience to ruin the homecoming for “Skeletor.”
Also newly announced on the card is SBG Dublin’s Pedro “The Game” Carvalho (14-10) who steps in for Darragh Kelly to face Sergio “Drako” Cossio (27-11-1) at catchweight (165 lbs), while Finland’s Omran Chaaban (9-1), who trains in Dublin, will take on the Netherlands’ Chequina Noso Pedro (10-4) in a welterweight bout.
