Most MMA careers begin with a string of wins, a couple of stoppages and a wave of momentum. Dubliner Nathan Kelly however, is not like most fighters. The Fingal native's career began in the worst possible fashion with a KO loss.
In his second bout, he tasted defeat again as he fell on the wrong side of a razor-thin split decision. Before his career had even really begun, Kelly found himself in dark place inside and outside the cage. READ MORE: Sinead Kavanagh hails SBG guru John Kavanagh ahead of Bellator return READ MORE: Taylor v Serrano 2 gets new date “The first one I took very hard.
It took me a long while to get back in the gym even to pick myself up and dust myself off. I found comfort in sitting at home ordering pizzas, eating Ben and Jerry’s going full Ben Stiller in Dodgeball," begins Kelly. "I dusted myself off eventually fought again and lost my second one by split decision and that one, although it had me distraught, it almost lit a fire inside me as well.
The first month after, I was in the slumps of despair and was like ‘what am I doing wrong here?’ "I decided to start again, start fresh. I moved up to featherweight and I just saw this as my new lease of life. "The second one gave me a boot up the h***.
There was a few months after it when I went a bit wonky in the head and the more I sat at home thinking ‘I was this close to winning’ the more I was thinking I’m nearly there." The Dubliner found himself at rock bottom after those two defeats. Kell.
