Sep 7, 2017
Theodorou will face Kelly at UFC Sydney
Coming off only the second loss of his MMA career, Canadian Elias Theodorou will return to the octagon against Australian Dan Kelly in a middleweight clash at UFC Fight Night Sydney on Nov. 18. UFC officials confirmed the fight to TSN on Thursday.
Coming off only the second loss of his MMA career, Canadian Elias Theodorou will return to the octagon against Australian Dan Kelly in a middleweight clash at UFC Fight Night Sydney on Nov. 18.
UFC officials confirmed the fight to TSN on Thursday.
Theodorou and Kelly were both competitors on The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia in 2014.
Kelly was defeated in his first fight on the show by Sheldon Westcott, the fighter that Theodorou bested via TKO at the finale to be crowned the middleweight tournament winner.
The 29-year-old Canadian was beaten by Brad Tavares in his last outing, a unanimous decision loss at The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption finale in July.
That setback snapped a two-fight winning streak where he earned unanimous decision wins over Cezar Ferreira and Sam Alvey in Halifax and Ottawa respectively.
Theodorou holds a 13-2 overall MMA record and is 4-2 in the UFC.
Kelly, meanwhile also suffered a loss in his most recent fight, suffering a first-round knockout by Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night Auckland in June.
The Australian had captured his last four fights before dropping the bout to Brunson, including victories over Rashad Evans, Chris Camozzi, Antonio Carlos Junior and Steve Montgomery.
Kelly sports a 13-2 overall MMA record, including a 6-2 mark since joining the UFC.
The 39-year-old is also a four-time Olympian judoka, placing as high as seventh place at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
The event, held at Qudos Bank Arena, will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Mark Hunt and Marcin Tybura.
This is the UFC’s fourth trip to Sydney.