Former Patriot wins professional debut

MESA, Arizona — Amateur fighters couldn’t handle Casey Kenney. Neither could the first professional who tried to match his skills.
Kenney, a 2008 Jay County High School graduate, defeated Elijah Muhammad in his first professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fight Saturday in the co-main event of Duel for Domination 11 at Arizona Event Center.
“It feels great,” said the 2009 Jay County High School graduate who won two wrestling state medals with the Patriots. “It’s exactly what I’ve been working for. What amateur doesn’t want to turn professional? That’s what I got to accomplish (Saturday). I guess I can say I’m a professional athlete now. That’s always been a dream.”
After an opening five-minute period in which Kenney was for the most part the aggressor, Muhammad got a couple of kicks in early in the second and then connected on a kick and a flurry of punches. But Kenney (1-0), who won all of his six amateur fights before turning pro, fought back with a couple of punches that allowed him to take control.
He wrapped up Muhammad’s body, threw a couple more punches and then slapped on a rear naked choke. Once the move was locked in, it took Muhammad just a few seconds to submit at the 2:29 mark of the second period of the 125-pound title fight.
“It was just the angle I had,” said Kenney, who also had Muhammad in a rear naked choke in the first period but was unable to finish him off. “I just had my hands better. He didn’t get a hold of either one of my hands that time, so I got to squeeze full strength.”
Kenney opened his amateur MMA career in November 2013 with an eight-second knockout of Lupe Valencia for the vacant 135-pound Bad Boy Promotions title. He improved to 5-0 with a submission win over Jonathan “Jo Jo” Salazar in June, and then in August won a unanimous decision over fellow undefeated fighter Oscar Sanchez in the main event of “Tuff-N-Uff: Future Stars of MMA” in Las Vegas.
On Saturday, Kenney spent the first minute of the fight feeling out Muhammad before trading punches and kicks. He put on a rear naked choke only to have Muhammad eventually escape, and the fighters exchanged a flurry of punches just before the bell.
But when Kenney locked in the chokehold again in the second period, the fight was over.
His next bout is scheduled for Jan. 30 at the Phoenix Zoo. He’ll take on Mexico’s Raul Coronado, who is currently 4-0.