BEIJING—Filipino Edward Kelly suffered the first back-to-back losses in his career after falling short against China’s Tang Kai in the undercard of ONE: Age of Dragons Saturday at Cadillac Arena here.
As expected, Kelly found himself in a striking match against Tang just the way he wanted it to be.
Tang, though, scored on early takedowns that made the difference and earned him the unanimous decision win in their featherweight bout.
Featherweight phenom Tang Kai picks up a massive win for China 🇨🇳, taking a unanimous decision over Edward Kelly! #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #AgeOfDragons pic.twitter.com/CKYUbgsFPa
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 16, 2019
Kelly also couldn’t follow up Team Lakay’s 3-0 showing in ONE: Masters of Fate last Nov. 8 in Manila.
The Filipinos are currently 0-2 in the card with Ramon Gonzales also yielding to a Chinese opponent in Hexigatu in the opening bout.
The 23-year-old Tang, who is 12 years younger than Kelly, has now won his fifth straight fight to hike his record to 10-2.