Casey Kenney scored another upset in his second Octagon appearance at UFC 241, defeating Manny Bermudez, who was significantly heavier than him on fight night.
Anaheim, CA – Casey Kenney was able to oust Manny Bermudez in a grappling-heavy fight, which is where Bermudez excels. Bermudez came into UFC 241 with three submissions in three UFC appearances, while Kenney was coming off a controversial decision in his debut against Ray Borg and did not nearly have as much hype behind him. However, this ended up being a coming-out party of sorts for Kenney.
“I’m the real deal. Like I said out there, two of the best grapplers in the division and I passed the test. Just found out that he had 20 pounds on me tonight. He weighed in at 165, I weighed in at 145. That catchweight had nothing to do with me. That was me being nice, taking a fight when a guy was way above. I’m coming up a weight class and he’s obviously a 145er. I went into the world where that matters most and my performance speaks for itself.”
The catchweight Kenney mentioned was 140 pounds, and it was due to Bermudez struggling with his weight cut. As a result, Bermudez has been forced to move up to featherweight. Whatever weight Bermudez came in at, Kenney was going to fight him.
“I said all week, if he comes in 20 pounds overweight, let’s bang dude. I’m fighting. I’m coming in there and I’m going to fight regardless of what you weigh. I train with guys that are big. I was prepared for him to be big, maybe not as big. I especially planned on him making weight. Even if he didn’t, if he was 150 pounds at weigh-ins, I’m here to fight. That’s what I do. I fight people and I love to put on a show. Like I said in the interview, give me someone that wants to stand up and bang with me. Let me bang!”
Kenney went right into the fire again in this fight, competing where his opponents are at their best and coming out on top. The bantamweight broke down some of his thought processes in the tough spots.
“He’s a tough guy. The judo toss in the beginning, that’s where I started. It’s been a while since I’ve tossed somebody. So that was for the heart right there. I like to put on super exciting performances and I felt like that was a great grappling performance. I got locked down in a couple of different places that I just couldn’t get out of. In the third round, I may have been able to explode a little bit to get out more. But that’s what he was looking for. He was looking for me to make a mistake. Grab my neck, grab my arm. I feel like I won the first two rounds so I was playing it extra safe there on the bottom or getting up. I didn’t want to make a dumb mistake and get caught in a submission.”
When Casey Kenney found out that he’d be fighting at 140 pounds, he actually was already below that threshold.
“I got a call at about 1 a.m. the night before weigh-ins saying he was 143-pounds and dead to the world and they were cutting him off at 140-pounds since he said he would make that. That was basically the agreement. You make 140. I was already 137 ready to go to sleep and make weight in the morning like a professional. But it was like, ‘Dude, whatever. Show up, take the fight, let’s fight. That’s what I came to do. What’s five pounds? What’s 10 pounds? I guess what’s 20 pounds? I’m here to fight. I’m here to put on a show and it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are. I’m going to come out and I’m going to try and kick your ass.”
Check out the rest of Casey Kenney’s UFC 241 post-fight scrum above!
