Eric Kelly ONE FC title shot put on hold

MANILA, Philippines -- The first time ONE FC released a poster on their upcoming event in Manila entitled “The Warrior’s Way”, fans were excited to see 3 of their favorite Filipino MMA fighters on that release, namely Eduard Folayang, Brandon Vera and Eric Kelly.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, slowly ONE FC were announcing the bouts in the Manila fight card and when everything was said and done, fans failed to see Eric Kelly in the final list.

The last time Eric Kelly competed in One FC was just this July against Robert Lisita in the One FC: War of Dragons event in Taiwan. Kelly was able to escape Lisita’s wrath to give him a win and a title shot at the One FC Featherweight Championship.

While he was slated to fight Koji Oishi at the One FC: Reign of Champions in Dubai, injuries from his match with Lisitaprevented him to do so.

Now, when Kelly is all healed up and ready to fight, fans were excited to see him take the title shot in Manila and in front of the 20,000 Filipino fans watching in the Mall of Asia Arena.

Unconfirmed sources said that Kelly and One FC had problems in negotiation and Philstar.com had a chance to talk to One FC CEO Victor Cui.

“To me, part of the spirit of a champion, when the promoter puts together a match or when our Vice President, Matt Hume calls, your first answer and guaranteed answer when he calls and says that we have a fight for you and this is the match-up for you is that is yes,” said ONE FC CEO Victor Cui.

“That wasn’t the answer that we got this time. There was a lot of hesitation on his part and we said alright. If you are not ready for this challenge and this hometown title fight without that level of pressure to say yes right away then we will put it on hold and look for another day for it,” added Cui.

Cui guaranteed that he will be getting his title fight in a couple of months and his title as the number one contender for the Featherweight championship is still there despite the rise of other MMA stars in his own weight category. In refusal to fight again for the title shot, it may affect his standing as the number one contender.

“It puts a wrinkle in the timeline for Eric Kelly for not being in this card. But ultimately, it is the fighter who will make a decision on what he wants to do whether he is injured or he feels is ready for the fight or not, I leave that up to Eric’s decision but in general, if you are calling your top guy and giving him a title fight, the first answer should be yes.”