WHEN he worked in Aldi stacking shelves, Nathan Kelly would have hardly believed he would one day be fighting in Madison Square Garden.
But that is exactly what the 26-year-old has managed to do, even rubbing shoulders with MMA greats such as Conor McGregor on the way.
On Friday night Kelly has a date with the iconic New York City venue where the likes of McGregor and Muhammad Ali have made their name.
The Irishman will be appearing live on DAZN in the Professional Fighter's League Play-offs against American Damion Nelson, and he can't wait to carve his own piece of history into the canvas.
Speaking to the Daily Star, he said: "All my family are talking about it. But the job's not done until it's done. I'm not happy about fighting at Madison Square Garden until I win."
The road to New York, however, has been far from easy for Kelly.
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After developing an obsession with WWE as a youngster, this passion eventually turned to MMA after picking up the game on Playstation in 2009.
But with an insatiable itch for the cage and following a tough battle to convince his mother, Kelly found himself in the gym before soaring to win a silver medal at the World Championships in 2016.
However, as he transitioned into the pro ranks he began to struggle due to not knowing how to cut weight properly.
And with his full-time job at Aldi still in tow, he ended up losing his first fight.
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Kelly spiralled into depression in the aftermath, gorging himself on pizza and Ben & Jerry's ice cream to try and make himself feel better.
His remarkable story would not end there, with Kelly turning a page and making a return to the cage.
While he lost the second fight, Kelly didn't dwell on it and instead took it in his stride – and he is yet to taste defeat since after seven straight wins.
But all of it could have been for nought thanks to the disruptive influence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Battle with depression
Kelly's mental health battle re-emerged in that period, and was it not for a crucial phone call to coach John Kavanagh, his career may have gone up in smoke.
He said: "I felt like there was no escape. When things started easing up, I decided that I needed to change what was going on in my life. I felt like I was running myself into the ground.
"I was going out and doing a lot of drinking and partying. Ultimately, I'd lost sight of myself and the goals that kept me alive. I remember one day, I'd had enough of it.
"I texted John Kavanagh and said, 'What's the story about joining the gym'? And he replied, 'This is our schedule; this is what we do, come down when you can'.
"Since then, the run I've been on and the domination you've seen is down to the team and the confidence I've got from working with them.
I'd lost sight of myself and the goals that kept me alive. I remember one day, I'd had enough of it.
"I have a lot of get-up-and-go, but I owe a lot of my success to them. There's been ups and downs, but vision, self-belief and teammates have got me into the position I'm in now."
Following an incredible run which has seen him take down the likes of Shem Rock and Scott Pedersen, Kelly has thanked Kavanagh for setting him on the path to stardom.
"There's something about John," Kelly added.
"He's just very calm. He doesn't overfill you with information. He just says what he needs to say when he needs to say it, and it's always the right things.
"You don't need someone saying, 'F****** do this, do that, blah, blah, blah'. He just gives you insights into what you need to do, when you need to do it.
"That's all I need. He made me feel welcome from day one."
Childhood hero McGregor
His rise eventually saw him link up with childhood hero McGregor, with Kelly revealing he recently had a sparring match with The Notorious.
On Mcgregor, he revealed: "Conor comes in and out of the gym. I actually had a spar with him last Monday; It's good to work on my skills with him.
"I did drills with him a year or two ago but didn't get much time to train with him. But the other day, I got a real feel of him. It was class.
"I looked up to the fella since I was a kid. He made me believe that people from Ireland could do it.
"I remember watching his first UFC fight at my cousin's wedding on a pay-as-you-go computer, where you had to put coins in to get the internet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwDIU77O0on/
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"I was running back and forth to my mum and dad, saying, 'C'mon, I need more coins; he's walking to the cage'.
"He shined the light for us and paved the way for us to do it, so to share the mats with him is unbelievable."
However, Kelly is not going to rest on his laurels even if he wins at Madison Square, and insisted he is "still hungry" to reach the pinnacle of his sport.
He declared: "I'll start slacking and get too proud the minute I get too happy. I have that poor man's mentality; I'm still hungry.
"But at the same time, I had a memory pop up of fighting Rogger Lopez two years ago.
"I thought, 'F***, before that, I was sitting at home depressed, drinking, partying and going down the road to nowhere.
"I reflected, and I was like 'F*** man. You've come a long way from fighting in the local halls up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to fast forward two years later, fighting in Madison Square Garden'.
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"I don't run away with myself, but I'm still trying to appreciate it.
"I was listening to the High-Performance podcast where the world-level athletes, say 'Make sure to enjoy the journey'.
"I'm happy with myself for where I've come from, and that I'm in this position. It's been a long way from where I started to where I am now.
"There was a point in my life where I never thought I'd get out of the rut I was in. I f****** wanted to end my life at one point. So to be fighting at Madison Square Garden, opening the card is amazing.
"So I'm happy with where I am, while also never being happy with where I am. I always want to be better and achieve more things.
"But it's hard not to smile and be a bit smug about it, but I'll try and keep that feeling in the background.
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"However, after the fight, I'll look back at it and think, 'We did it; that was a big one'."
Kelly weighed in at 145.4 lbs for his featherweight bout.
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