Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly

Status: Former ONE Athlete

Filipino featherweight contender Edward Kelly grew up wanting nothing more than to become a police officer and protect those around him in the small town of San Tomas Central in Baguio City, Philippines. Along the way, he also became inspired to start training in martial arts after witnessing the immense positive impact it had on his older brother, fellow ONE Championship featherweight Eric Kelly.

After competing for a few years as an amateur kickboxer, Kelly decided to pursue his crimefighting ambitions and began studying Criminology at the University of The Cordilleras. That was where he met Team Lakay founder Mark Sangiao, who was head of the school’s wushu team at the time, and a new dream was born.

Despite graduating with his degree in Criminology, Kelly had fallen in love with martial arts and ultimately decided not to become a policeman. Instead, he entered the cage to compete as a professional mixed martial artist and amassed an impressive five-bout win streak before making his ONE Championship debut in 2013. Kelly has since gone on to score several impressive finishes on the global stage, and he even owns one of the fastest knockouts in ONE featherweight history at a blistering 21 seconds.