UFC Fight Night 121 results: Elias Theodorou outworks Daniel Kelly for unanimous decision

No matter how much Elias Theodorou kicked Daniel Kelly, Kelly wouldn’t go away – and even put Theodorou in trouble a time or two.

But ultimately, Theodorou (14-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) just had too much output for Kelly (13-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on his way to a unanimous decision win. The Canadian topped the Australian home fan favorite with scores of 30-28, 30-27, 30-26.

The middleweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 121 event at at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Theodorou kicked at Kelly’s lead leg right away – a lead leg that was wrapped in a brace. Theodorou then kicked to the body and circled outside. But Kelly pushed forward offering up the potential for heavy hands. Theodorou landed another body kick, then ducked away from a looping punch from Kelly. When Kelly tried to push forward, Theodorou kicked up the middle. Two minutes in, they tied up – and Kelly just missed a left hand.

Theodorou stayed outside and tried to make Kelly chase him down. When Kelly got close, Theodorou tried to jump off the cage for a kick. Theodorou kept kicking to the body, then up high, but Kelly kept stalking. They tied up with 30 seconds left, but Kelly couldn’t get Theodorou to the ground.

Kelly aggressively came forward in the second and got a tie-up early in the round. Theodorou kicked on the break and always seemed just barely out of range of potential danger from Kelly. But 90 seconds in, Kelly finally got his judo to work. He tripped Theodorou to the canvas, though he couldn’t keep him there long. Two minutes into the round, Theodorou landed a kick too low and Kelly got a break.

On the restart, Theodorou landed a kick to the leg, then two to the body. Midway through, Kelly again tried to tie him up and landed a left hand just before the break. But Theodorou kicked him several times in the head, all partially blocked, before returning to kicks at the lead leg. With 90 seconds left, another left hand from Kelly found the mark and he clinched him up again. Kelly tried to throw Theodorou again with a minute left, but couldn’t finish it.

In the third, Theodorou landed to the lead leg once more, then to the body. It looked like Kelly was starting to be bothered by the leg kicks, but he fired back with his own heavy body kick and got a roar from his homd fans. The two exchanged wildly near the fence, and Kelly tied Theodorou up and dragged him to the ground. Kelly wrapped up a rear-naked choke, but Theodorou fought it off and popped his head off. He used it to nearly take Kelly’s back midway through the round. He landed a pair of knees, then kept Kelly clinched up.

Kelly got the break with two minutes left, then had to eat some more kicks from Theodorou. Theodorou did his best to stay out of Kelly’s range in the final minute and cicrled outside, but with 40 seconds left Kelly tied him up again looking for one final takedown. He couldn’t get it, and Theodorou cruised to the horn.

Theodorou is back in the win column after a decision loss to Brad Tavares in July. He has won three of his past four. Kelly lost for the second straight time, which includes a 76-second knockout loss to Derek Brunson in June. It’s the first skid of his MMA career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 121 results include:

• Elias Theodorou def. Daniel Kelly via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-26)
• Alex Volkanovski def. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
• Ryan Benoit def. Ashkan Mokhtarian via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 2:38
• Nik Lentz def. Will Brooks via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:05
• Tai Tuivasa def. Rashad Coulter via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:35
• Frank Camacho def. Damien Brown via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Nadia Kassem def. Alex Chambers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Eric Shelton def. Jenel Lausa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
• Adam Wieczorek def. Anthony Hamilton via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Sydney.)