Chris Kelades (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

When Chris Kelades steps into the Octagon on Saturday night to face Ray Borg, the flyweight will do so under very different circumstances, than those that surrounded his UFC debut.

In October, Kelades made headlines by stepping up on extremely short notice to battle Patrick Holohan at UFC Fight Night 54, and handing the latter his first pro defeat. Not only that, but Kelades sent the Halifax crowd home happy, since the Fit Plus fighter is from nearby Dartmouth.

Well, at UFC Fight Night 60, Kelades likely won’t have very much hometown support, since the bout will go down in Broomfield, Colorado. Borg, meanwhile, trains out of FIT NHB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Now, all that said, Kelades will get to face Borg having had a full training camp behind him, for a specific opponent. The 33 year-old fighter certainly didn’t have that going for him when he faced Holohan last year.

“It’s quite the change,” Kelades noted on a recent episode of Full Contact Fighter Radio, while discussing the differences between the lead up to this fight, and his Octagon debut. “I would say that obviously it’s the most advance that I’ve had for any fight. The majority of my fights have probably been within a three week window. To have this much time is almost a shock really.”

“It’s allowing yourself to peak properly, and not push yourself too hard,” Kelades furthered. “But just have a good training camp; make the best of the time that you have.”

One of the reasons Kelades was able to work his way to a victory at UFC FN 54, is because he stays in shape in between fights incase an opportunity arises. But, as most fighters will tell you, being ready, and having completed an intensive, multi-week camp are not the same thing.

“I have a training camp and I’m actually able to be prepared, and showcase what I can actually provide in a fight,” Kelades said. “Last time was one of those fights where it was all heart really. There wasn’t a whole lot of time to prepare and use game planning, or anything specific like that.”

One thing that is similar to his last UFC bout is the fact that Kelades (8-1) has been booked to fight another rising flyweight in Borg (7-1). The American has gone 1-1 thus far in the UFC, but in his debut, he dropped a tightly contested, split decision to contender Dustin Ortiz. Borg went on to choke out Shane Howell in his second Octagon appearance, and record his first UFC win.

“Oddly enough, I knew that he probably was going to be the guy that I was fighting next,” Kelades said about the 21 year-old Borg. “Right after my first fight, my coach (Scott MacLean) said ‘this is probably the guy they’re going to give you.’ Just because of the way the flyweight division is, at that time, there wasn’t a lot of guys that were coming off a win and were available for a fight…”

“I’ve watched the couple fights that’s he had in the UFC,” added Kelades. “He’s a young up-and-comer, he’s good, he’s athletic, he’s fast, like everybody is at that level. They’re dangerous right?”

UFC FN 60 will be hosted by Broomfield’s 1st Bank Center on February 14th.