Kenney’s kicks batter Alateng

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Casey Kenney connected with a kick to Heili Alateng’s right side about 25 seconds into their bout Saturday night.

It was a sign of things to come.

Kenney, a lefty, repeatedly battered the right side of Alateng’s rib cage and head, dominating their three-round bantamweight fight in a 30-25, 30-26, 30-27 unanimous decision victory as part of UFC Fight Night “Fight Island” — Flash Forum, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The theme of the fight was so clear that the ESPN MMA Twitter account (@espnmma) posted a pair of photos — one of Kenney connecting on a kick and another of Alateng’s battered right side. The tweet read: “Getting kicked in the ribs by (Casey Kenney) does not look like fun.”

“That was pretty much the whole game plan,” the 2009 Jay County High School graduate said in the octagon immediately after the fight, “stay away from his right hand and use my weapons. … I thought he was going to go down with one of those body kicks. He ate some solid left hands. A lot of people go down with that. Alateng’s tough as nails.”

In a phone interview Monday, after having time to watch his fight, Kenney gave his evaluation: “It’s 15 minutes of a masterpiece, I think.”

The basics of the fight never changed. Kenney connected with left-footed kicks to Alateng’s right side. He connected with left-handed punches.

Just a minute into the fight, the ESPN announcing team pointed out they could already see the redness on Alateng’s body.

Occasionally, Kenney would go for a knee or an elbow in an attempt to end the fight. But it was mostly kick after kick, battering Alateng’s right side into a red, swollen mess.

Kenney noted not only were the kicks key to his plan on offense, but they also helped limit Aleteng’s strength.

“Part of kicking somebody like that is to hurt them,” he said. “But his one weapon was his right hand. That’s what he could win the fight with. … But when you kick somebody like that in the arm, it also takes away the power of their punch.”

UFC’s official fight statistics credited Kenney (15-2-1) with 109 significant strikes — 57 to the head, 41 to the body and 11 to the legs. Meanwhile, Alateng (14-8-1) had just 46 significant strikes total.

The first and third rounds were especially dominated, with Kenney racking up 40-19 and 40-13 advantages, respectively, on significant strikes.

Following the fight, Kenney climbed out of the cage, walked to the announcers’ table and yelled, “I want to fight next weekend.”

It won’t be next weekend, but it looks as if Kenney might get his wish for a quick turnaround.

Karyn Bryant of MMA Heat has reported Kenney will square off against Nathaniel Wood (17-4) at UFC 254 on Oct. 24 back on Fight Island. The card is slated to feature UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov against interim champion Justin Gaethje.

Kenney on Monday afternoon repeated his desire to get back into the octagon soon, but said he has yet to sign a contract to do so.

If that fight were to come together, it would pit two of the up-and-coming bantamweight fighters against each other. Both Kenney and Wood, nicknamed “The Prospect,” sport 4-1 records in UFC. Kenney’s lone loss was by unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili on Feb. 15 at UFC Fight Night 167 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Wood’s only loss came on that same card by technical knockout to John Dodson, who then lost to Dvalishvili by unanimous decision Aug. 15.

After taking his first UFC loss to Dvalishvili, now ranked 13th in the UFC bantamweight division, Kenney has bounced back emphatically. He needed just over three minutes to dispatch Louis Smolka by submission in late May and followed up that fight with Saturday’s domination of Alateng.

“I feel great,” said Kenney. “I’m right where I need to be. The only better thing that could have happened Saturday was him go down with one of those shots. But I proved a lot to myself. I proved a lot to everybody.”