August 7, 2021 at 4:08 a.m.
Kenney, Yadong meet on UFC main card
Jay Co. graduate to kick off UFC 265 approximately 10 p.m.
Kenney, Yadong meet on UFC main card
HOUSTON — Step by step, Casey Kenney has climbed the ladder.
He took his first fight at home in Jay County on a whim. Then he moved to Arizona as an amateur, to the professional ranks and eventually to the UFC.
Tonight, fans have to pay to see him fight.
Kenney, a 2009 Jay County High School graduate, has risen to the main card on pay-per-view for the first time as he takes on Song Yadong tonight as part of UFC 265 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The fighters, who are at similar points in their careers, will lead off the five-fight main card that begins at 10 p.m. (Early prelims begin at 6 p.m. and prelims at 8 p.m., on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN, respectively.) The main event features No. 2 Derrick Lewis against No. 3 Ciryl Gane in a bout for the interim heavyweight title.
“It was pretty cool,” said Kenney shortly after finishing the press conference with the other nine main card fighters and UFC president Dana White on Thursday night. “It was my first one. … I was a fan, too, watching Derek Lewis do his thing …
“It feels great. That’s where I want to be. That’s a great start for me … to get a big opportunity to fight on pay-per-view.”
Kenney and Yadong fought back-to-back at UFC 259 in April. Yadong first took a loss by unanimous decision to Kenney’s teammate Kyler Phillips, and Kenney followed with a split-decision defeat to former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. (He went the distance against Cruz, who was ranked 11th, falling by a 30-27, 29-28, 28-29 split decision.)
That loss ended a three match winning streak for Kenney, who is 5-2 since stepping up to the UFC in March 2019 and 16-3-1 overall as a pro. His only other loss came against Merab Dvalishvili, who is now ranked 11th in the bantamweight division.
“I figured they would try to make that match-up again, both of us taking close, decision losses that night,” said Kenney of UFC 259. “Being exciting fighters, I figured Song was coming next. If there’s anybody out of the top 15 that belongs there, it’s us two.”
Kenney referred to Yadong as an “exciting fighter,” saying they have similar styles. But, he said, he feels like he is the more well-rounded of the two.
He is a slight betting favorite heading into the fight.
Beyond moving up to the main card, tonight’s fight will be different for Kenney in another way. He’s fought four times since the start of the coronavirus pandemic early last year — twice in Las Vegas and twice on UFC’s Fight Island in the United Arab Emirates. All of those fights have been missing something.
“The last four fights have been during COVID, no fans,” Kenney said. “My first three UFC fights I was in the early card, so the arena wasn’t packed yet anyways. So I feel like this will be my first one walking into however many people the Toyota Center holds here in Houston.”
(Its capacity is 18,300.)
“I like to put on a show for the fans live,” he added. “Even though I know people are watching at home, feeling the energy from a crowd is one of a kind.”
As he does before every fight, the former Patriot two-time wrestling state medalist gave a shout out to all of his supporters in Jay County.
He noted that against Cruz he was announced as fighting out of Tuscon. Tonight, the introduction will be a little bit different.
“Check out where I’m fighting out of this time,” he said.
He took his first fight at home in Jay County on a whim. Then he moved to Arizona as an amateur, to the professional ranks and eventually to the UFC.
Tonight, fans have to pay to see him fight.
Kenney, a 2009 Jay County High School graduate, has risen to the main card on pay-per-view for the first time as he takes on Song Yadong tonight as part of UFC 265 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The fighters, who are at similar points in their careers, will lead off the five-fight main card that begins at 10 p.m. (Early prelims begin at 6 p.m. and prelims at 8 p.m., on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN, respectively.) The main event features No. 2 Derrick Lewis against No. 3 Ciryl Gane in a bout for the interim heavyweight title.
“It was pretty cool,” said Kenney shortly after finishing the press conference with the other nine main card fighters and UFC president Dana White on Thursday night. “It was my first one. … I was a fan, too, watching Derek Lewis do his thing …
“It feels great. That’s where I want to be. That’s a great start for me … to get a big opportunity to fight on pay-per-view.”
Kenney and Yadong fought back-to-back at UFC 259 in April. Yadong first took a loss by unanimous decision to Kenney’s teammate Kyler Phillips, and Kenney followed with a split-decision defeat to former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. (He went the distance against Cruz, who was ranked 11th, falling by a 30-27, 29-28, 28-29 split decision.)
That loss ended a three match winning streak for Kenney, who is 5-2 since stepping up to the UFC in March 2019 and 16-3-1 overall as a pro. His only other loss came against Merab Dvalishvili, who is now ranked 11th in the bantamweight division.
Yadong sports a 5-1-1 UFC record and a 16-5-1 mark as a pro. His draw came against Cody Stamann, who is now the 15th ranked fighter in the division.
UFC had tried to pair Kenney and Yadong against each other in December, but the timing didn’t quite work out. Now, they’re set to clash.“I figured they would try to make that match-up again, both of us taking close, decision losses that night,” said Kenney of UFC 259. “Being exciting fighters, I figured Song was coming next. If there’s anybody out of the top 15 that belongs there, it’s us two.”
Kenney referred to Yadong as an “exciting fighter,” saying they have similar styles. But, he said, he feels like he is the more well-rounded of the two.
He is a slight betting favorite heading into the fight.
Beyond moving up to the main card, tonight’s fight will be different for Kenney in another way. He’s fought four times since the start of the coronavirus pandemic early last year — twice in Las Vegas and twice on UFC’s Fight Island in the United Arab Emirates. All of those fights have been missing something.
“The last four fights have been during COVID, no fans,” Kenney said. “My first three UFC fights I was in the early card, so the arena wasn’t packed yet anyways. So I feel like this will be my first one walking into however many people the Toyota Center holds here in Houston.”
(Its capacity is 18,300.)
“I like to put on a show for the fans live,” he added. “Even though I know people are watching at home, feeling the energy from a crowd is one of a kind.”
As he does before every fight, the former Patriot two-time wrestling state medalist gave a shout out to all of his supporters in Jay County.
He noted that against Cruz he was announced as fighting out of Tuscon. Tonight, the introduction will be a little bit different.
“Check out where I’m fighting out of this time,” he said.
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