Daniel Kelly has been a part of the UFC roster for nearly four years, earning a record of 6-4-0 in the organization.
The middleweight veteran wants to compete one more time in the Octagon before retiring and would also like son, who is battling a lifelong illness, to walk to the Octagon alongside daddy.
“Look, I’d do anything to be able to roll back the clock and keep going, but the body is struggling,” Kelly said on Submission Radio. “At some point you do have to stop. I’ve got guys who I coach, not only in Judo, in MMA as well. I mean, Big Ben Sosoli’s in the Ultimate Fighter house at the moment. I coach him. We’ve got another group of MMA guys who are coming up. So, it’s a good time. It’s just now that we’re starting to get some of the Melbourne guys in, apart from it just being me and Jake (Matthews). It’s be nice to cross over that way as well. And have a show where Jimmy will definitely be on this one and probably the next one, Ben will be floating around by that time to I hope. And it’d be good just to have that transition out. My eldest son is a little bit older now. I want him to be involved too. He’s in high school now, I want him to be involved a little bit. And I’ve always been very sure to keep them separated from that, but he’s nearly 13. He’s old enough to just experience it with me. Added to which, I see what Jake (Matthews) and Mick (Matthews) have got – which is very special and I’m very close to those guys – and also Jimmy Crute having his dad over at the contender series, and obviously Jimmy trains a lot with us too and is a good friend of mine. Added to which, seeing Mark Hunt walk out with Noah in Perth. I want this last opportunity to share that with Erik. I’d want him to walk out with me for the fight. I mean, yeah, everyone knows the history with Erik. I mean, I keep it a little bit private. But, I think it would be a special thing and a special moment to share with him, to be able to do that one last time with his dad.”
Kelly is currently in the midst of a three fight losing streak, with those losses coming to Derek Brunson, Elias Theodorou and Tom Breese.
While Kelly’s son doesn’t want to be a distraction during the potential retirement bout, it’s a concern that Kelly quickly shot down.
“I floated it by him a little bit, but yeah, it’s an exciting thing. He was a little bit worried to start with. He’s like, ‘Oh, are you sure? I don’t want to be a distraction’. And I said, ‘Son, the last thing you would be is a distraction in that kind of situation.’ And yeah, he was excited,” said Kelly.
If the UFC does allow Kelly to go through with the request, another thing the soon to be retired fighter wants is for that bout to happen later this year at UFC Fight Night Adelaide.
