Kelly overcomes the odds to reach the cage
Saturday could be a crowning moment for Paul Kelly as he faces off against Marcus Davis at UFC 89. The undefeated Kelly takes his first big step up on the Birmingham card. In a way, he's fortunate to be stepping at all. A childhood accident nearly left him unable to walk according to The Telegraph:
Kelly was messing about on a motorbike with his mates along a railway line in West Derby, Liverpool. It was getting dark. "I thought I knew it all," explains Kelly, built with the frame of a rugby union hooker. "We were out all day and all night on the bike on the railway sidings. Of course, we shouldn't have been there. As it was getting dark, I hit a stack of wet leaves at 40 miles an hour and went into a huge concrete block on the sidings. My leg just exploded. It was a mass of blood, bone and muscle."
The injury was so severe Kelly got 800 stitches and 13 skin grafts. At 12 years old, he was told he'd never walk again. He's worked his all the way back to be one of Great Britian top MMA prospects.
Kelly beat fellow Brit Paul Taylor in his first UFC fight. Davis comes in off a loss against Mike Swick. He was riding an 11-fight win streak before falling to Swick at UlFC 85.
