Edward Kelly admits retirement slowly creeping into sight

Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly believes that his time as a mixed martial artist is almost done.

The 35-year-old Kelly made his debut back in March 2003 and currently holds a record of 12-8 with nine of those victories coming via finishes. Though Kelly has been doing his best to keep himself physically fit, he has lost three of his last four matches.

These results have no doubt pushed him only to get better, but the veteran believes all things eventually come to an end.

“When I celebrated my birthday earlier this year, I realized that I’m near the age of retirement,” Kelly said.

“My body is in great condition, but it can not take damage from my fellow athletes for a longer period of time. I will do my best in every performance and have a stronger conviction to win in each one. When I retire, I don’t want to have any regrets.”

Kelly first fell to Christian Lee in January by way of technical knockout in the first round. He redeemed himself when he faced Sung Jong Lee at ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR, before suffering back-to-back decision losses to Xie Bin and Tang Kai.

When he reviewed his performances, Kelly saw that most of the time, his opponents were able to dominate him on the mats -- an aspect of his game that he wants to improve.

“My wrestling and ground game needs more work,” Kelly said. “We have been hiring experts for training sessions so in between those, I need to work hard on my own.”

Kelly knows that he can not change what has happened in the past and chooses to move forward to improve himself as an athlete and return to his winning ways. He wants his fans to know that he will be more ferocious in next year’s performances until the time to hang up his gloves comes.

“Expect a more explosive, aggressive, and smarter version of myself in 2020,” Kelly concluded.

“I will no longer hesitate inside the ring. I want to give my supporters and supporters of ONE Championship a great show, so always expect a better performance from me.”