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Paul Kelly warns Jacob Volkmann 'I'll rip you apart'

Paul Kelly's ground and pound left Matt Veach needing stitches © Getty Images

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Paul Kelly has promised to 'hurt' Jacob Volkmann at UFC on Versus on Sunday, warning the American that his ground-and-pound 'rips people apart'.

Kelly is anticipating a ground war when he takes on the NCAA Division I wrestler in San Diego, insisting Volkmann would be 'deluded' if he stayed on his feet. But he promised his opponent that the fight will only just be getting started if it hits the mat, and Kelly has a choked-out Matt Veach as an illustration of his own ground threat.

"Obviously his gameplan will be to take it to the mat otherwise he'd be a bit deluded wouldn't he?" Kelly told ESPN.co.uk. "My strength in this fight is my stand-up, but if he wants to take me to the mat, good luck keeping me there.

"The last guy tried doing that and look what happened to him. My submission defence is tight and, without wanting to sound big-headed, my ground-and-pound rips people apart."

Volkmann has had plenty to say on Kelly in the build-up to the fight, questioning the Brit's punching power after going six fights without a UFC knockout. Kelly is calm though, knowing there is more than one way to crack an egg, and he warned the 29-year-old to prepare for a painful evening.

"Some people look for the knockout using ground-and-pound, but mine is all about hurting them and breaking their will," explained Kelly. Thiago Silva's ground-and-pound is for the knockout. I just try to break and break and break them, and before long there's a load of red stuff coming from his head and the guy's thinking '****, how bad is this cut?'

"If you fight a jiu-jitsu guy, you know they're gonna hold you until they find a limb. But I'm different. That's why it was so hard to match me up with English welterweights before I entered the UFC. I wasn't in the top 10 Brits, but I was destroying people. I left them needing stitches. How many did Troy Mandaloniz need? How many did Matt Veach need?

"So Volkmann can take it to the mat. How long have I spent on my back in my UFC career? About two minutes. Roli Delgado tried it, tried to make it a boring fight, so if Volkmann wants to do that let's go. Let's have it. I'll end up in your guard and I'll hurt you."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.