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Paul Kelly

TRAINING: Run at 6-7am, pads 10 - 10:30am, straight into wrestling and ground till 1. Then strength and conditioning at 2:30pm in Extreme Strength and Conditioning in Manchester for 1 hour 40 mins. Then race back for 8 to 10 rounds of sparing back at Kaobon with a stable of top quality fighters like Terry Etim, Paul Taylor, Mark Scanlon, Paul Sass, the list goes on and on.

When and why did you start training for fighting? I was beaten up quite badly in the town centre one night and decided that it wouldn’t happen again. The Wolfslair guys are friends of mine and that’s pretty much it. I finally found what I was meant to do. I went six fights and stopped them all in a couple of minutes. I also became close friends with Mike Bisping and almost got on TUF 3 so I have been waiting for this day for a while. Now that I am here I intend to stay. I love the UFC.

Do you have any heroes? What can I say? Wanderlei Silva, ‘The Axe Murderer’. I love his style - he puts it all on the table, just like me

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? I have been around the UFC for a while now. They finally gave me a chance and it means everything for me. I love the organisation and as one of their biggest fans, it’s a dream to be taking part in this.

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? No

What was your job before you started fighting? I worked for my father in his cake shop; you have to diet a lot in this sport and being surrounded by cakes ain’t good.

Specific accomplishments in pro competition? I fought on a lot of U.K shows all over the country. I had a couple of title shots coming up, but the UFC came along, so here I am.

Favorite grappling technique: arm triangle

Favorite Striking technique: flying knee