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Hughes Injured, Out Of PFL Belfast, Kelly in vs. Wilson

By on March 25, 2026

Image: Jose Peñuela / PFL

Paul Hughes is out of the PFL Belfast main event. Hughes announced that he has sustained an injury and was unfortunately forced out of his homecoming headline spot. Hughes was due to fight New Zealander Jay-Jay Wilson in a fight between the #4 and #6 ranked lightweights in PFL.

Sources have confirmed to SevereMMA that PFL are now targeting SBG’s Darragh Kelly to step in to fight Jay-Jay Wilson instead. The Donegalman, ranked #8 in PFL lightweight division, was scheduled to face unranked Sergio Cossio.

Kelly’s undefeated 9-0 streak had been a highlight of the Irish MMA prospect scene in the last few years. Last time out Kelly submitted Bakhtiyar Abdulloev in the first round following wins against Mike Hamel and Dmytrii Hrytsenko respectively, which were marked steps up in opppent from his previous six fights.

This follows the news reported by BBC on Monday that Rhys McKee has signed with PFL to fight at the Thursday, April 16th Belfast card.

Podcaster, lead MMA writer and analyst for SevereMMA. Host of the SevereMMA podcast, out every Sunday. Economics and Mathematics graduate from UCC. Also write for Sherdog. Previously of hov-mma and fightbooth. As heard on 2FM, Red FM, Today FM and more. Follow me on twitter for updates @SeanSheehanBA and on Facebook Facebook.com/seansheehanmma
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