{"id":604560,"date":"2026-04-15T00:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604560\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T00:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:41:10","slug":"darragh-kelly-talks-exciting-short-notice-fight-april-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604560\/","title":{"rendered":"Darragh Kelly Talks Exciting Short-Notice Fight April 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darragh Kelly<\/a> (9-0 MMA, 2-0 PFL) was always going to be on the docket for Thursday night\u2019s PFL Belfast card. In recent weeks, however, the unbeaten lightweight\u2019s assignment for the event on Thursday changed.<\/p>\n

Initially, Kelly\u2019s adversary for PFL Belfast this week was to have been Sergio Cossio (27-11-1 MMA, 1-2 PFL.) In the wake of the withdrawal of Paul Hughes (14-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) from this week\u2019s card due to a knee injury, an opening needed to be filled for Thursday evening\u2019s main event against Jay Jay Wilson<\/a> (11-2 MMA, 1-1 PFL,) airing live inside the United States via ESPN2.<\/p>\n

Near the end of March, it was announced<\/a> that Darragh Kelly would be the fighter to fill the vacancy created by Paul Hughes\u2019 injury. Although no lightweight championship will be at stake in this restructured main event of the evening, Kelly is approaching his new assignment just the same.<\/p>\n

Darragh Kelly Opens Up About Facing Jay Jay Wilson on\u00a0PFL Origins<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the PFL\u2019s official YouTube channel uploaded an episode<\/a> of its\u00a0PFL Origins\u00a0series, the focus of which is this Thursday\u2019s main event. Right at the very top of the episode, Darragh Kelly mentioned that even though the opponent is now different, the goal is unchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish don\u2019t care who\u2019s in front of us,\u201d Darragh Kelly began. \u201cA war is a war. I\u2019ll fight anyone, anytime. I fight for Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

The undefeated contender discussed taking this main event with only a few short weeks to prepare for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul\u2019s injured,\u201d he said. \u201cWe needed someone to step up. There\u2019s a lot of responsibility that comes with this, but I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Darragh Kelly Charged Up for Initial Main Event Under PFL Banner<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s contest is Kelly\u2019s first main event in the PFL, having joined the promotion after it bought the now-defunct Bellator MMA<\/a> in late 2023. Adding to the intrigue of this fight is the fact that he\u2019ll be competing in front of a gallery of his own countrymen.<\/p>\n

Darragh Kelly took time out to talk about what it\u2019ll be like to have a \u201chome game\u201d for Thursday night\u2019s main event of the evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got the call to replace Paul, it was pure excitement,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI tried to level with myself and keep a calm head and think things through, but within about 30 seconds, I already made my mind up, like \u2018This was going ahead, this was happening.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Darragh Kelly on Paul Hughes and What Fans Can Expect Thursday<\/p>\n

As previously mentioned, Paul Hughes was supposed to have fought Jay Jay Wilson in the original PFL Belfast main event before he was forced off of the card by injury. Kelly briefly turned the focus of his comments to Hughes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Paul\u2019s a serious level, serious operator,\u201d he said of his fellow lightweight. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen him perform at [a] very high level now for the last five, six years.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, Darragh Kelly talked about the PFL Belfast main event being an important one for the future of the flyweight division.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a good opportunity for people to see the torch being passed,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m the right guy for the job. I\u2019m coming in and I\u2019m going to put on a show for the fans who are coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/p>\n

On paper, the PFL Belfast main event of the evening looks to be a highly-entertaining scrap between two quasars at 155 lbs. Darragh Kelly is an undefeated gladiator who will be looking for his seventh finish in 10 professional bouts on Thursday.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be doing so in front of a partisan crowd, and if this were sports entertainment, Darragh Kelly would be classified as a face in this clash. In the other corner, Jay Jay Wilson walks to the SmartCage in enemy territory later this week, with boos raining down on him as he makes his entrance.<\/p>\n

Wilson will be fighting for the 14th time as a professional, doing so as the heel in this contest. Although the fight is scheduled to only last 15 minutes, expect both contestants to treat Thursday night\u2019s main event with the intensity of a five-round bout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darragh Kelly (9-0 MMA, 2-0 PFL) was always going to be on the docket for Thursday night\u2019s PFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-604560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}