Tallaght teen Nate Kelly has taken home gold for Ireland at the World Kickboxing Championships this weekend.
The tournament, which sees the best teenage fighters in the world competing against each other, took place in Italy over the weekend. The 18-year-old Dubliner outlasted athletes from many different nationalities to be crowned the Champion of the World in the 57kg division.
Kelly defeated six opponents in total on his way to taking home the top prize. The multiple-time National Champion, who trains at the Tallaght Martial Arts for Kickboxing gym, was overjoyed at the prospect of bringing a gold medal back to Tallaght.
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“I’m absolutely over the moon to be able to win gold for Ireland and to be able to make my country proud,” said Kelly.
“I think it’s so important to always show respect for your opponent and keep your ego in check. I can know my skill set and remain humble and I think that for me anyway is the key to success and I can't wait to go even further with this now.”
If the name seems familiar, it may have to do with the fact that Kelly went viral a number of years ago when Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo came to Dublin to promote their UFC Featherweight World title fight. Kelly, who was only eleven years old at the time, caused a stir when he asked Dana White for an advance on his first UFC Paycheck in order to pay for a ticket to the event.
Sports apparel company Reebok stepped in, supplied a ticket and from that moment Kelly was hooked.
Since then, Nate 'the Great' has gone onto become something of a prodigy in the Irish fighting scene. With 16 National titles to his name, Kelly has ventured into the world of MMA and now trains under John Kavanagh at Straight Blast Gym - The same gym as McGregor.
With 50,000 followers on Instagram, the teen has already garnered a huge reputation. A professional MMA debut is rumoured to take place soon, and if Kelly's career keeps going from strength to strength, he may well become one of the biggest Irish stars in the sport in the near future.
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