Troy Mandaloniz would love to live up to his nickname on Saturday.

The "Rude Boy" from Hilo wants to deliver a rude awakening to England's Paul Kelly in a welterweight (170 pounds) bout at the UFC 95 mixed martial arts card at the O2 Arena in London.

"I'm really fired up for this one," said Mandaloniz, 29. "Paul Kelly has been talking a lot of trash saying he's out of my league, this and that. He's going to be in for a surprise if he's looking past me."

At least five bouts on the card will be televised on a delayed basis on Spike TV at 7 p.m. (Hawai'i time), including the main event featuring Joe Stevenson against Diego Sanchez.

Mandaloniz's bout is on the undercard, and is not scheduled to be televised.

Still, it is considered a significant fight for him.

For starters, Mandaloniz will be fighting for the first time since December 8, 2007. He was not active in 2008 because he aggravated a neck injury.

"I almost had to have surgery, which would have put me out even longer," he said. "But I just rested it, then started rehabbing later (in 2008). I was flying under the radar, basically. I think a lot of people forgot about me. That's why I want to do something (on Saturday)."

Mandaloniz garnered national attention when he was selected for The Ultimate Fighter 6 reality television series on Spike TV. The series aired in the fall of 2007.

Mandaloniz did not make the final, but received a UFC contract anyway, thanks in part to his knockout of fellow cast member Richie Hightower on a Dec. 2008 card.

While recovering from the neck injury last year, Mandaloniz and fellow Hawai'i UFC fighter Kendall Grove opened a gym on Maui called I&I Training Center.

"I think being on the show helped give me the opportunity to make a living doing what I love," Mandaloniz said.

But Mandaloniz still did most of his training for Saturday's bout in Hilo, under the guidance of UFC lightweight world champion BJ Penn.

"I've been friends with BJ and the Penn family since we were little kids growing up in Hilo," Mandaloniz said. "That's always going to be my hometown. And BJ, of course, is a big reason why I am where I am today."

Penn is in London, and will help corner Mandaloniz during Saturday's bout.

Mandaloniz has a professional record of 3-1, and is known for his punching power.

Kelly is 8-1 and is known for his all-around skills.

On a blog for yahoo.com, Kelly wrote: "It has been 18 months since his last fight; that's a long time for any fighter, never mind one who perhaps doesn't train as hard as he should.

"Even before his time off, his groundwork wasn't that good — so what it's going to be like now after 18 months off, who knows? I know he trains with BJ Penn, but his jiu-jitsu is nowhere near black-belt level. I am better than him in every single area of this fight."

One of Mandaloniz's concerns is the location of the event.

"It sucks that we have to fly all the way over to England, where he's from," he said. "I'm not going to have the same support structure I would have if the fight were in Las Vegas. But this is my first big fight in the UFC, so I'll go where ever they want me."

As for the nickname, Mandaloniz said his friends gave it to him after they noticed he could sing the lyrics to almost any reggae song.

"In reggae music culture, a rude boy describes a tough guy, or a troublemaker," he said. "My interest in reggae music is strong, so my friends just started going, 'Hey, Rude Boy' every time they saw me, and it stuck."

NOTES

Maui's Dylan Clay will fight for Team USA West in the M-1 Challenge on Saturday at Seattle, Wash. Clay is scheduled to face Eduardo Pamplona of Team Brazil.

The M-1 Challenge is self-described as "The World Cup of mixed martial arts." Each team has five fighters in separate weight classes. Other teams participating in Saturday's event are Russia, South Korea, Finland and a combination team from Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.