Fighter's chance

Casey Kenney got the offer Monday afternoon.

By 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, he was on a plane.

When Ultimate Fighting Championship called, he didn’t hesitate.

Kenney will compete in his first UFC fight Saturday when he takes on Ray “The Tazmexican Devil” Borg  at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

It’s been a big week for the 2009 Jay County High School graduate, who on Friday defeated Vince “The Anomaly” Cachero to become Legacy Fighting Alliance’s first dual champion.

“I’m on cloud nine. I’m riding the wave,” said Kenney in a phone interview Wednesday from Philadelphia. “It started last Friday with the first-round knockout, something that I’ve been searching for for a while, and it’s just continued.”

Kenney’s bantamweight (135 pounds) fight Saturday is in the “early prelims” part of the card beginning at 3:30 p.m. It will be televised on ESPN+. The evening continues with other undercard fights at 5 p.m. on ESPN and the main card, featuring sixth-ranked lightweight Edson Barboza against eighth-ranked Justin Gaethje, at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The fight against Cachero was over in a hurry, as the fighters traded a few punches and kicks for 40 seconds before clenching up for the first time. They traded a few more over the next 55 seconds, clenched, released and then clenched again at the 3:25 mark of the opening period. Three seconds later, the bout was over.

Kenney lifted his left knee right up the middle, catching Cachero in the face. Cachero fell straight to the mat, arms sprawled, and Kenney connected with a hammer fist before the referee was able to rush in and end the bout.

“I hit him to the body a few times, which I think set up my knockout,” said Kenney. “He slipped one of my left hands, came back with really one of his best punches that I got hit with. It didn’t really faze me. At that point, I was feeling it. … I knew he was in trouble. We clenched up the next time and as soon as I grabbed his head, he kind of backed away, probably thinking the knee to the body was coming, and the knee came right up the middle, and goodnight.

“I was a little shocked at the way he fell, but it was 100 percent over.”

Kenney threw his arms in the air in celebration and then climbed to the top of the cage, where he yelled “I deserved a contract.”

Three days later, he got the call from UFC, continuing what had already been a whirlwind March.

Miles Johns (7-0) was slated to defend his LFA bantamweight championship Friday against Cachero, who boasted a 6-0 record. But when Johns suffered a broken hand and was forced to pull out of the fight, Kenney, already the LFA interim flyweight (125) champion, got the call to fill in.

Meanwhile, Kenney’s manager had been keeping an eye out for opportunities in the UFC. That came Monday, when Kyler Phillips, who was already subbing for Pingyuan Liu, pulled out of his fight against Borg.

For Kenney, that meant opportunity.

“I’ve been on that short-notice call for a little while now really, even before Friday’s fight,” he said. “Things worked out.

“After Friday’s performance, I knew it was only a matter of time. I didn’t think it would be this quick, but hey, I’ll take it.”

Now he has signed a four-fight contract with the top mixed martial arts promotion in the world. (See his UFC profile at ufc.com/athlete/casey-kenney.)

He said the contract doesn’t necessarily guarantee him four UFC fights. But he looks at Saturday’s bout as his opportunity to prove he deserves more.

Kenney is 11-1-1 in his professional career with the lone loss coming by a controversial split decision as part of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in August 2017. Since then, he has won four consecutive LFA fights, with the first three coming by decision before the Cachero KO.

That victory made Kenney the first dual champion in LFA history. In addition to the interim bantamweight title, he earned the interim flyweight title in November when he topped Brandon Royval by a unanimous decision. (He has also held the Tachi Palace Fights flyweight championship since February 2017.)

“It’s great. Making history. You can’t hate on that,” said Kenney. “That’s kind of why I got in this thing.”

Borg (11-3-0) is a five-year UFC veteran who is No. 3 in the promotion’s flyweight rankings. (Kenney is ranked 15th, despite having never fought in UFC.)

But Borg has also been out of the game for a while. He has not been in the octagon since an Oct. 7, 2017, submission loss to Demetrious Johnson as several scheduled fights since then have not come to fruition.

Kenney said Borg’s strength is as a grappler and that he’ll work to limit that part of his opponent’s game.

As for strategy beyond that?

“Just really be me. Go out there, control the fight,” said Kenney. “I feel like if I stop his takedowns it’s going to be a long, long night for him.

“I feel like all the pressure is on him. I’m here. I’ve just got to go out and perform.”