Daniel Kelly is making a plea for a final UFC bout, and damn, is it a moving one.

Ahead of his UFC Fight Night 130 bout with Tom Breese, Kelly (13-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) prepared for the possibility of being cut from the UFC, which, for him, would also mean retiring from MMA. He was stopped in the first round and, with that, added a third straight loss to the longest skid of his career.

The 41-year-old fighter is currently out of contract and recovering from an eye injury. But the Olympic judoka thinks he has one more fight in him, and he’s hoping to get in on his side of the world – specifically, at Adelaide Entertainment Center in Australia, where UFC Fight Night 142 takes place on Dec. 2 (though it airs in the U.S. on Dec. 1 due to the time difference).

The reason why a last fight would mean so much? It would be a chance to walk out to the octagon with his 12-year-old son, Erik, who suffers from a rare and deadly disease called cystinosis.

Cystinosis is a metabolic disease where the amino acid cystine gets stuck in cells, causing early cell death. If untreated, it can eventually destroy all of the body’s organs, though treatment can keep the disease at bay.

Kelly, who didn’t really like the idea of his children being involved in his fights, says he was ultimately inspired by the sons of Aussie UFC fighters Mark Hunt and Jake Matthews. He spoke to Erik about it and said his son’s sole concern was that he wouldn’t be getting in dad’s way.

“I said, ‘You won’t be in the way, mate, I want you there,’” Kelly told The Herald Sun.

“I want (Erik) to walk out with me for the fight,” Kelly told Australia’s Submission Radio. “Everyone knows the history with Erik. I keep it a little bit private, but I think it would be a special thing and a special moment to share with him – to be able to do that one last time with his dad.”

In the chat with Submission Radio, Kelly said he’s still in a bit of a “limbo” when it comes to his situation with the UFC, as he’s not currently under contract. He said he’s had a brief e-mail exchange with matchmaker Mick Maynard since his last bout, mostly updating him on the eye issue, but hasn’t been putting that much concrete thought into returning – until he was recently called out by Zak Cummings.

“That’s a matchup that makes a lot of sense and also very suitable for me,” Kelly said. “He’s got a good record, he’s a little bit older. He’s 34. He’s a grappler. It’s always fun to go against grapplers, (and) I’ve got good records against grapplers. I jumped on it and said ‘OK, that will be interesting.’”

Kelly knows that there’s a lot that has to come together for this one to materialize. But, in making his case for a new chance despite the current rough patch, Kelly points to his mostly winning octagon record and the fact he’s put on good home fights such as the ones against Chris Camozzi and Steve Montgomery.

Kelly is adamant, though, in that this will be his swan song.

“It would be great to get one last roll of the dice, and that’s it,” Kelly said.

For more on UFC Fight Night 142, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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