Paul Kelly (right) File Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
The Breakdown: Watching the recent NCAA wrestling championships was a frustrating experience because I kept on calling out for guard passes and sweeps that never materialized. Here’s hoping Paul Kelly and Matt Veach make up that leftover violence deficit considering the loser could be staring down the barrel of a pink slip from the cut-happy UFC front office.
For Kelly, staying gainfully employed means relying on his ground-and-pound and avoiding striking exchanges like they’re the bastard child of the bubonic plague and Joan Rivers. Reality is standing in the way of that strategy, though, since Veach is simply the better wrestler. Helping matters along is Veach’s edge in pure physicality, which only makes his wrestling that much better.
The other migraine in the making for Kelly is that Veach is the fundamentally better striker and more than willing to forgo his wrestling in favor of a back-alley brawl. While Veach isn’t some fluid dynamo on the feet, he’s durable and hits like Thor’s hammer while Kelly is still very uncomfortable exchanging strikes. A quality plan B is a necessity at this level, and this is one of those fights that will likely illustrate that point at Kelly’s expense.
The Bottom Line: One-dimensional ground-and-pound fighters are rapidly running out of opportunities in the UFC, and Kelly will be the latest man to run headlong into that brick wall.