Eric Kelly open to joining Team Lakay

MANILA, Philippines – After suffering a painful setback 3 months ago, Filipino fighter Eric Kelly realized that there is one aspect missing in his illustrious 7-year prizefighting run: a reliable support team in his bouts.

The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is about individuals, but most of its highly-regarded world champions are forged in strong camps that bring in many great fighters.

In a very different atmosphere from boxing, MMA hardly sees any high-profile competitors building training camps around one man or woman as it often centered around a gym where several coaches work in conjunction with each other to train a stable of fighters of varying skills and weight classes.

Ever since he started his professional career in 2009, Kelly has been described as a lone wolf because he has never had an established MMA team and only hops from one gym to another.

“For me, I don’t have a stable gym where I train at full-time. I train more naturally. Whichever gym I find myself in, that’s where I train. Mostly, I just watch YouTube videos and apply it to my training and then I go to some gyms to test it out. I am in the constant search for more knowledge for my career,” Kelly recalled. 

Kelly finds himself in familiar situation, wherein he has no specific team to formulate his game plan and is tasked to take on Russian prospect Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE Championship’s “Global Rivals” event on April 15.

Homegrown talents

As he is set to face a tough opponent, the 33-year-old Baguio City native is open to the possibility of joining the ranks of Team Lakay, one of the country’s elite MMA groups based in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Team Lakay is a home to a number of top homegrown talents, including Eduard Folayang, Geje Eustaquio, Kevin Belingon, Crisanto Pitpitunge and Kelly’s younger brother Edward.

Kelly told Rappler that he personally received an invite from Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao.

“Yes, he personally invited me to join Team Lakay. But we will talk about it. I see it as a great opportunity,” he said.

Kelly and Sangiao are acquainted with each other as both men worked together in the Philippine national Wushu squad from 2001 to 2004.

According to Kelly, the only thing that hinders him from donning the Team Lakay colors is that he does not want to be isolated in a particular team.

“I just don’t want to be stuck in one team. As much as possible, I want to explore all styles and forms of fighting. But I am open to all possibilities. Never say never in this sport. Mark and I will talk about it,” he shared.

Kelly acknowledged that his striking background can greatly improve with Team Lakay to compliment his superb grappling pedigree.

“I am looking to sharpen my skills in the stand-up department. I already have a good ground game, but I have to back it up with an outstanding striking. I know I can achieve that with Team Lakay,” he said.

Former ONE featherweight champion Honorio, who is also a member of the fabled Team Lakay, hopes that he will see Kelly wearing the signature bright red trunks in his upcoming fight.

“I hope so. I’ll be happy if he will say yes to Coach Mark. We are Igorot warriors. We should help each other. We came from one blood and one tribe,” Banario stated. – Rappler.com