Career
Kelly began competing in judo when he was 7 and competed at his first Australian Championships when he was 13. He made the junior national team in 1994 where he competed at the Junior World Championships and went on to make the senior national team two years later. Kelly is the only Judo competitor to have been selected to fight for Australia in four different Olympic games.
He most recently competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the -100 kg event.
Early career
Kelly made his professional Mobile Marketing Association debut in July 2006. He remained out of competition for the next six and a half years due to judo commitments.
Australian Fighting Championship and local Mobile Marketing Association
Kelly returned to the sport in December 2012. Over the next eight months, he improved his record to 5 wins with no losses.
Kelly again returned to action in the Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) in May 2014, at AFC 9, defeating Ben Kelleher via second round submission.
Kelly was twice slated to fight Steven Kennedy for the vacant AFC middleweight belt in 2013 at AFC 7 and 2014 at AFC 10, but was forced to withdraw due to The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada versus Australia commitments in 2013 and due to injury in 2014. The Ultimate Fighter
In December 2013, it was announced that Kelly was selected as one of the fighters to represent Australia for the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada versus
Australia.
Kelly was defeated by eventual middleweight runner-up Sheldon Westcott via first round submission. Ultimate Fighting Championship
Kelly made his UFC debut against Luke Zachrich on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 55. Kelly was victorious, winning by submission due to a kimura.
In his second bout for the promotion, Kelly faced Patrick Walsh on 14 February 2015 at UFC Fight Night 60.
Kelly faced Sam Alvey on 10 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 65. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.
Kelly was expected to face Ricardo Abreu on 15 November 2015 at UFC 193. However, Abreu pulled out of the fight in late September and was replaced by Steve Montgomery.
Kelly faced Antônio Carlos Júnior on 20 March 2016 at UFC Fight Night 85.
Olympic Games2000 Summer Olympics - Judo, 9th place (U/81 kg)
2004 Summer Olympics - Judo, 7th place (U/90 kg)
2008 Summer Olympics - Judo, 21st place (U/90 kg)
2012 Summer Olympics - Judo, 17th place (U/100 kg).