Pinoy Fighter Eric Kelly Headlines ONE FC Event Against Rob Lisita With a Title Shot on the Line

On July 11th, Eric "The Natural" Kelly battles Rob "Ruthless" Lisita in the main event of ONE FC: Rise of Dragons at the NTU Sports Center in Taipei, Taiwan.
 

ONE FC: War of Dragons

Already expected by ONE FC fans to be hard hitting affair, more than a win is up for grabs as the bout is also a title eliminator, with the victor likely to be named the number one contender to Koji Oishi's ONE FC Featherweight Title.

Eric Kelly vs. Jens Pulver. Photo property of ONE FC.

Kelly (10-1) last fought under the OneFC banner in November of 2013, losing a bout to fellow Pinoy fighter Honorio Banario for the inaugural ONE FC Featherweight Title. As the title is now on the waist of Oishi, a win over Lisita (14-5) will no doubt place Kelly back on the path towards his ultimate goal of being an MMA world title holder.

The journey will not be easy however, as he is pitted against a fighter who is on a four fight winning streak, with Ruthless's latest coming by way of TKO over Yusuke Kawanago at ONE FC: Rise of Heroes last May in Manila. With an eighty percent finish rate, Lisita has been calling for a title shot since his victorious ONE FC debut, and will likely get his shot should he defeat The Natural.

Rob "Ruthless" Lisita. Photo property of ONE FC.

While it's close to two years since Kelly's last ONE FC bout, the only loss of his pro MMA career, he is entering the Taipei bout coming off a win, as he last fought for local promotion Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), earning a victory over Jianbo Lu last November. While some viewers worry about the possibility of ring rust due to extended periods in between bouts, Kelly's desire to be back in competition and all the hard work he's put in during the layoffs may be what can get him past the ruthless one.

A win away from a coveted title shot, count on both Kelly and Lisita to leave it all in the cage this Friday in Taipei.