Twelve years on, the 24-year-old (pictured above right with Wolfslair team-mate Abdul Mohamed) will attempt to upset the odds once more when he confronts Marcus Davis in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

 

Liverpudlian Kelly had 800 stitches after hitting a wall and smashing his femur in the 40mph crash, as well as numerous surgeries and 13 skin grafts.

 

He battled back to full mobility through relentless strength work, but the scars he still bears on his left leg make it look like he has been 12 rounds with Jaws, never mind Mike Tyson.

 

"I tell people it's a shark bite," said the down-to-earth welterweight.

 

"My mam and dad call me Pizza Leg - make us a cup of tea Pizza Leg!"

 

The nerve damage Kelly suffered means he is oblivious to pain in his leading leg - which can be an advantage in the Octagon but something of a liability outside.

 

"My leg is numb, I can’t feel a thing. It’s the same during a fight with low kicks, I can’t feel them. I get a haematoma the next day but I'm not bothered, the fight is over with by then.

 

"I even set myself on fire cooking a few weeks ago and didn’t notice until I was in bed on the night!

 

"I had some charring on my leg and thought: ‘What the hell is that?’"

 

Kelly's chin rather than his legs will more likely be tested by veteran Davis when they collide at UFC 89 in Birmingham on October 18.

 

The American southpaw is 11 years older than the unbeaten eight bout novice Kelly, has years of professional boxing experience and has only lost one of his last 12 fights.

 

Kelly, who shared the Fight of the Night bonus with Paul Taylor after decisioning his fellow Brit in a gripping UFC debut in January, admits he is in at the deep end.

 

But as his story suggests, the ground and pound specialist is not the kind of character who gives up without a fight.

 

"MMA isn’t like boxing, there are so many ways to win and my mindset has always been to go in there and have a good fight," he said.

 

"I’m just pleased that I’ve won all of my fights so far and having a big heart and a big set of balls has got me to this point.

 

"It doesn’t mean that if I fought the same lads again that the outcomes would be the same, I’m well aware of that.

 

"But I've always admired Wanderlei Silva because he goes in there and gives it everything he has got and I always go in there and do my best no matter what.

 

"Let it all hang out and see what happens - you can’t ask for more."

 

Kelly feels his stock can only rise regardless of the result, but is quietly confident he can spring an upset.

 

"It’s a win-win situation for me really. He has been around for a long time and he has beaten up some of the top guys in the world, so I’ve really got nothing to lose," he said.

 

"I don’t badmouth any of my opponents or want to disrespect him, because in the cage everyone is an equal.

 

"I think he underestimates me and I think he is right to. But I’ve got the tools to beat him, I know he doesn’t think I have."

 

And although he freely admits there is still plenty of the same tearaway in him who crashed the motorbike, Kelly has lived like a monk in preparation for the contest.

 

"I’ve been training solid for 15 weeks," he said. "I’ve hardly seen my five-month-old daughter Phoebe.

 

"I’ve trained five days a week, three times a day and had no life at all apart from it.

 

"I've been doing a lot of strength and conditioning work and put about six pounds of muscle on over an eight to 15 week period.

 

"My strength has gone through the roof, I feel really strong. Marcus is the first southpaw I've faced, but I've got my head around that as well."

 

Kelly will be very much the underdog when he meets Davis at the National Indoor Arena. But then again, he has overcome bigger obstacles before.