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On Saturday 23rd February, Bellator returns to the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland with a card that is stacked with Irish talent. Following Bellator’s European signing spree, many of the Emerald Isles’ best up and coming fighters are signed to the promotion and will be looking to signal that a new generation of Irish stars has arrived. One such bout takes place on the undercard as Ireland’s own, Richard Kiely (2-1), takes on Frenchman, Mickael Bucher (3-3) in a welterweight contest.

Kiely last competed in November 2017 when he challenged Alex Lohore for the BAMMA welterweight title. He lost via kneebar in the first round but it was later revealed that 4 weeks out from the fight, he had a complete rupture of his ACL but he decided to compete anyway.

“LaWhore was aware of the injury and targeted it from the outset, even sucker kicking it as I went to touch gloves,” Kiely said. “I don’t regret taking that fight as I rocked him with a stiff jab and he knew straight away I was faster than him. He knew I would knock him out once I connected so he panicked and went for the clinch. If I wasn’t on one leg, I’d have escaped easily and he’d have been put to sleep fairly quickly which he knows too,” Kiely continued. “He was lucky.”

The Irishman went on to explain that he didn’t regret taking the fight whilst being severely compromised as getting a shot at the title in his hometown was too big of an opportunity to turn down. He also went on to claim that Terry Brazier, or ‘Terence’ as Kiely likes to call him, refused the same fight that he took against Lohore.

Following that bout, Kiely called it a career and retired from MMA competition. He went on to explain why he made that decision despite being so early on in his MMA career.

“I retired as I had a near career ending injury and there were no challenges available that interested me at the time. In 3 fights I had main evented BAMMA in my hometown for a world title. However, I had always stipulated that if Terence lost his yellow feathers I’d have come back. Once I had recovered from my injury, Bellator came knocking and made me a great offer. Now in just my fourth fight, I’m about to become the face of Bellator. There’s about to be shock-waves sent through the welterweight division!” he stated.

Ahead of his Bellator debut, Kiely noted how his leg is fully healed and there are no lingering effects from the injury. He went on to talk about whether or not he would still be retired if Bellator hadn’t given him an offer.

“At the time it was dependent on my recovery from the injury and if something that really grabbed my attention came along. Turns out I have Wolverineesque powers of recuperation because my knee is as good as new. Bellator were always going to come knocking. You can see from the hype and mainstream attention I got from my signing that I am too hot of a commodity to have not been snapped up by a major organisation,” the Irishman continued. “Like me or hate me, I’m charismatic, generate interest outside of the cage and bring knockouts inside it. A great combination if I do say so myself! I’m also very modest!”

Modest is definitely not the first word that comes to mind when finding ways to describe Kiely and his character. As the conversation progressed, the outspoken welterweight was asked about his views on his upcoming opponent, Mickael Bucher, who has finished all of his three victories by submission but has also been submitted in all of his losses. His opinions were modest as ever.

“I have no thoughts on Bucher except that he’s about to get added to the Face of Bellator’s highlight reel Hall of Fame. I’ll expect a thank you card off of him after it. The fight starts on the feet so he’ll be doing well not to have his chin knocked into the nosebleed seats in the 3arena but if it goes to the ground, his trend of losing by submission will continue,” Kiely predicted. “Once he’s tapped I might ask the ref to restart the fight and knock him out to give the crowd what they want. I’m magnanimous like that. Someone explain to that troglodyte Terence what that word means or at the very least help him sound it out.”

Richard Kiely trains out of the famed SBG Ireland team alongside many of the other fighters on the card in what will be a very busy night for the gym. He discussed what preparations have been like during this camp with so many of his teammates looking to peak at the same time.

“Camp has been awesome and tough in equal measure. Training with highly skilled killers that are all coming up to a fight is a sure fire way to make sure you bring your ‘A’ game to every session. Some of the training sessions would be a sell out in the 3Arena – they’re that good.”

The UFC have not done a show in Dublin since October of 2015 which has left the Irish fans clambering to see more high level action on their shores. With Bellator looking to make a major push into the market and with this being their first real attempt at laying down a marker for rival promotions, some have drawn comparisons with Conor McGregor’s headling UFC Dublin show in terms of the potential of having new stars created for the company. Kiely echoed these sentiments.

“This is a special card. Some of the fights on the prelims would be the main event on any other card and the atmosphere will eclipse any previous show. It will probably only be rivaled by the UFC show in 2014. I’m 100% sure this will usher in a new wave of Irish MMA stars and I’m even more certain that Bellator are going to have a new face of the organisation. I won’t spoil the surprise of who that will be but I can say his name rhymes with Kichard Reily.”

The welterweight division is one of the most stacked in Bellator and the promotion has recently begun the Welterweight World Grand Prix to see who will survive the bracket and reign as champion. Kiely gave his thoughts on who he sees being victorious.

“I think MacDonald should win it but he’ll need an answer to Michael ‘Worm’ Page’s footwork. If he rings me and asks me nicely, I’ll give it to him. I’d fight any one of those guys right now and would cause them a puzzle they can’t figure out. Unless they know how to hit a ghost, it won’t end well for them. This ghost has grenades in his hands and dynamite in his feet.

Although Kiely is young in his MMA career, he has lots of experience in the stand up martial arts. He was a highly decorated kickboxer and is a first degree in Kung Fu so has total confidence in his ability to stand up with anyone in the division and look more than comfortable.

“I am the best striker in the Gargoyle’s division. You can tell by how ugly they are that they’re used to getting punched in the face and you can tell by how aesthetically pleasing I am to look at that I rarely get hit,” said Kiely. “The others could hang with me; Page is a decent mover and Daley hits hard. I just happen to move better and hit harder than both. They’re both one dimensional in their own way and I have an answer for both of them.”

Kiely added that after the upcoming victory in Dublin, he wants to face Lorenz Larkin next and Bellator seem receptive to the idea of making that fight. That would mark a significant step up in opponent but it’s a move that Kiely feels he is ready for. One thing is for sure – Kiely won’t run out of opponents that are willing to stand across the cage from him. WHOA TV spoke to Terry Brazier in a recent article where he announced that he would like nothing more than to face Kiely in Dublin just 2 weeks after his own fight in Newcastle, despite the difference in their MMA records. So much so, that he would be prepared to take a pay cut for that fight and only compete for his purse. Kiely responded to the former two weight BAMMA champion’s request.

“Terence went on the missing list in BAMMA. He was offered the fight with me on several occasions and went on the missing list like the true Hide and Seek Champion that he is. He was only interesting to me as he had a belt at the time. If you interviewed him recently, you can attest to how deeply uninteresting Terence is. Now I’m the bigger draw, he’s making noises in my direction. This fight will happen. Last time he fought a decent striker in Tommy King he got knocked out. He’s too slow and too ugly to beat me.”

“He’ll look to try and implement his boring spoil and spoon tactics against me,” Kiely continued. “He’s too slow though. He’ll be knocked out. He’s chinny. I actually don’t dislike him though ironically enough. He’s done well for himself on limited ability and I can’t fault his heart. He’s still going to get knocked out though.”

Image courtesy of Dave Fogarty @Ginger_beard_photos on IG