Dr. seeks to avenge son’s MMA loss
Bariatric surgeon Dr. Steven Bang seeks to avenge his son’s loss, vs. Pat Kelly, 50, who coached Tim Boetsch to four Maine state high school titles.
Last November Dr. Steven Bang watched his son Steven, 22, lose to Pat Kelly, 50, at New England Fights XV. This weekend at NEF XVIII: Made in America at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, ME, Dr. Bang, a 45-year-old bariatric surgeon, is seeking revenge.
The Androscoggin Bank Colisée was the site of the famed Ali vs. Liston Phantom Punch, before either Bang was born.
This will be Dr. Bang’s second MMA fight. He also wrestled for BYU under coach Mark Schultz. And he has four sons, who all fight: Steven (who got this ball rolling), Sheldon (2-2), Shawn (1-1), and Skylar (in training). And Dr. Bang does Ironman triathlons.
“I had been chomping at the bit, waiting for the right time for everything to line up,” says Dr. Bang to Chuck Mindenhall for MMAFighting. “All of a sudden I was watching that fight and I realized that right now is the right time, there won’t be any better time than now. I thought, what better than to enter the ring against the man who just beat my son? So as I was watching that fight I was thinking that. A couple of days later I contacted the promoter, Matt Peterson, and I said how about this — father seeks to avenge son’s loss in the ring?”
“I often say on the night of the fight I put my Hippocratic Oath away. I just kind of file it away. Can’t have an oath to do no harm — on fight night I’m looking to do some harm. At the same time, I don’t find it too much of a contrast. It’s all part of life, and it’s how I view life in general. And even getting into the ring and putting myself out there with the background I have and the education that I have and what I do for a living, it’s high risk. I don’t take that lightly. I am acutely aware of the stakes getting into the cage. I well past my years of perceived invincibility that usually accompanies youth.”
“It wasn’t like, ‘that guy’s beating my son, I’m going to kill him!’ It wasn’t that by any means. More so it was I could see what Steven needed to do to beat him and I think that he should have.
“Another way that I’m looking at this whole thing, we have very strong family bonds, and I’m looking at this as I already have a loss against Pat. So I’m looking to take that back. I am looking to avenge that.”
Kelly is a former Div 1 wrestler, high school biology teacher, and the wrestling coach who took UFC heavyweight Tim Boetsch to four state championships.
“Sometimes I go, geez, I was locked in a cage with a guy who wanted to kick the crap out of me and it didn’t happen,” said Kelly. “At my age I’m not worried about anybody. I’m just an amateur. It didn’t matter if it was against Dr. Bang or otherwise. I’m not one of the younger guys who wants to build an ammy record and then go pro. I just want to be an advocate for this sport and for the lifestyle behind it, and the focus within it, and the outcome of it. That’s my message. You can start wherever you’re at and start getting in shape.”
The fight that started it: