Las Vegas, NV — Your next fight is always your biggest, as the saying goes. But at UFC 259 on Saturday night, Casey Kenney’s next fight truly is his biggest.
That’s because it comes against former bantamweight champ and future Hall of Famer Dominick Cruz.
Kenney (16-2-1) is the unranked up-and-comer heading into the bout. But after going 3-1 in 2020, and capturing three straight wins, he has the opportunity of the lifetime Saturday night. The chance to break into the mainstream and most certainly land himself in the top 15 of the stacked bantamweight division.
“Sometimes when opportunity knocks, you need to capitalize it, and I feel like that’s what I did in 2020,” Kenney said during the UFC 259 media day. “So here we are.”
Much has been made over the years about Cruz’s unique fighting style and absolutely stellar footwork. Even his fellow fighters have taken note. Kenny agrees that Cruz is unique — but maybe a little less so these days.
“Any fighter that I prepare for, first thing I do is prepare myself. Sharpen everything that I have and everything that I’ve been working for, and working towards. Obviously, at this level, we’ve got to take in the fact that guys like Dominick Cruz are a little bit unique,” explained Kenny. “I think he was very unique 5, 10 years ago, but guys switching stances, doing their footwork, all that stuff— that is something that I’ve been seeing my whole career almost.”
With that in mind, the path to victory for Kenney may have been laid by Cruz’s last opponent, Henry Cejudo. Cejudo found great success with leg kicks, for starters. “Dominick, he didn’t look much different in his last couple fights. Like the the Garbrandt, the Cejudo, the Dillashaw [fights], compared to you know, 5-10 years ago, it looks like the same type of guy,” Kenney observed. “Obviously, he’s got a high fight IQ. I’m expecting maybe some some curveballs in there as well. But Dominick has his style, and it really hasn’t changed much in the last 5-10 years.”
Casey Kenney faces Dominick Cruz at UFC 259 this Saturday, March 6 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
