TEAM Lakay veteran Edward Kelly survived a second round submission scare and beat Egyptian up-and-comer Ahmed Faress via a split decision in one of the undercard bouts of ONE Championship: “Full Blast” on Saturday, May 29, 2021, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
Faress scored a flash knockdown as he countered with a right hook as Kelly threw a leg kick.
The 37-year-old Kelly caught Faress’ high kick and slammed him to the ground. He landed a few punches and elbows on the ground.
Both fighters scrambled their way to their feet and then Faress returned the favor and took down Kelly. Faress failed to lock in on a few submission attempts and didn’t do damage on top. Both fighters returned to their feet. The round ended with Kelly countering with a right left hook combination as Faress attacked with a flying knee.
In the second round, Kelly softened up Faress with low roundhouse kicks on his lead right leg. Kelly yet again caught Faress’ kick and slammed him to the ground. As Faress hit the ground, he quickly caught Kelly with a triangle choke. Kelly did well to survive and escaped after being held to the choke for more than a minute. Kelly retaliated by unleashing some vicious elbows.
In the third round, Kelly continued to land leg kicks and body shots on a stationary Faress, who looked spent from his submission attempt.
Kelly got the nod of two of the three judges and ended his two-fight slump inside the cage.
Kelly improved to 13-8, while Faress lost his ONE debut and dropped to 16-4. (EKA)