Kenney creating his own legacy

The main event has been referred to as a “battle of pure legacy.”

Earlier in the evening, Casey Kenney is hoping to take another step toward creating a legacy of his own.

Kenney, a 2009 Jay County High School graduate, will be part of UFC’s biggest card of the year tonight as he takes on the undefeated Manny “The Bermudez Triangle” Bermudez in a catchweight bout.

He will lead off UFC 241’s preliminary card — it will be broadcast on ESPN — against Bermudez at 8 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. His is the first of four preliminary card fights for an evening highlighted by the heavyweight championship rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic. (There are five other fights on the main card, available on pay per view, including Anthony Pettis meeting Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout in the co-main event.)

“It’s a great card. It’s kind of surreal,” said Kenney, noting that he ran into Miocic while checking in. “It’s everything I’ve asked for. … Now we’re here.”

The card was one of two that Kenney had his eyes on after defeating third-ranked flyweight Ray Borg in his UFC debut March 30. Kenney took some time off after that fight, his second in a nine-day span, and announced the Bermudez bout via social media in early July.

Bermudez (14-0), whose prior experience mostly came with Cage Titans, boasts a 3-0 mark in UFC with each win coming by submission. He most recently defeated Benito Lopez by submission with a guillotine choke in the first round in February. Eleven of his 14 victories have come by submission, and Kenney said his opponent’s resume speaks for itself.

“Undefeated prospect — 14-0. That’s a legit record. That’s a legit opponent,” Kenney added. “Obviously on the biggest stage of the year pretty much for the UFC. I win this one and I think it puts me in a great spot.

“My resume kind of speaks for itself, too — first ever LFA champ-champ taking out a title contender on short notice. And then an undefeated prospect in the bantamweight division. That’s got to set me right up there in the top 20 in the world.”

He said though he’s comfortable grappling, his strategy for the fight will be to stay on his feet and avoid allowing Bermudez to have the opportunity for a submission.

The bout was originally scheduled to be at bantamweight (135 pounds), but the fighters on Friday agreed to change it to a catchweight fight on the suggestion of MMA, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported. He indicated that the decision came as both fighters were cutting significant weight Thursday night before Friday’s weigh-in. Kenney then weighed in Friday at 139 pounds, with Bermudez coming in at 140 pounds.

Kenney is on a five-fight winning streak since suffering a controversial split decision loss to Adam Antolin during Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in August 2017. He bounced back to defeat Kendrick Latchman and Roman Salazar, both by unanimous decision, in Legacy Fighting Alliance before scoring another unanimous decision win over Brandon Royval for the promotion’s interim flyweight title in November. He earned his second LFA belt, the bantamweight title, by knocking out Vince Cachero in 1 minute, 38 seconds, March 22. He made his UFC debut eight days later with a unanimous decision win over Borg.

Following the Borg fight, he took time off to allow a cut over his eye and a small tear in his medial collateral ligament to heal, and he says he’s in perfect health as he gets ready to take on Bermudez.

The fight is the first for Kenney since he made an appearance to greet fans, take photos and sign autographs in July at the Jay County Fair.

“Thanks for the support, as always, to all the home-town fans,” he said. “I got to come home for the Jay County Fair and sign some autographs. That was kind of a surreal moment to have a line of people for couple hours. That definitely fuels me and inspires me to keep going. Not that I don’t have enough inspiration, but that stuff’s close to the heart.”