Casey Kenney is slightly favored against Dominick Cruz at UFC 259: Adesanya vs. Blachowicz on Saturday, March 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is one of four fights on the ESPN/ESPN+ portion of the preliminary card. Cruz is 22-3 in his career, while Kenney is 16-2-1 in his career. There are a total of five fights on the main pay-per-view card on UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. Adesanya, with the headliner a bout between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya. There are also a total of ten fights on the preliminary card with four on ESPN/ESPN+ and six on ESPN+/ UFC Fight Pass. Let's look at the bout between Cruz and Kenney and UFC predictions.
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Dominick Cruz (22-3, 5-2 UFC)
Cruz came into the UFC with a record of 17-1 and he has five wins and two losses in the UFC. He defeated Urijah Faber by unanimous decision, Demetrious Johnson by unanimous decision, Takeya Mizugaki by KO, T.J. Dillashaw by split decision, and Urijah Faber by unanimous decision; while losing to Cody Garbrandt by unanimous decision and Henry Cejudo by TKO. Cruz has been a pro since 2005 and he has seven wins by TKO/KO and one by submission. He has five first round finishes.
Casey Kenney (16-2-1, 5-1 UFC)
Kenney came into the UFC with a record of 11-1-1, and he has five wins and one loss in the UFC. He defeated Ray Borg by unanimous decision, Manny Bermudez by unanimous decision, Louis Smolka by guillotine choke submission, Heili Alateng by unanimous decision, and Nathaniel Wood by unanimous decision; while losing to Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision. Kenney has been a pro since 2014 and he has two wins by TKO/KO and five by submission. He has five first round finishes.
Kenney said this to mymmanews.com about his upcoming fight against Cruz, "He (Cruz) is obviously one of a kind, but he was one of a kind 10 years ago. Not that anybody has completely duplicated what he does, but the guy is fighting in different unorthodox stances type of thing, that's the new era of MMA. His style, people have copied it, people have taken things from it. It's not a new style anymore."
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Cruz 3.52/ Kenney 4.79
Striking Accuracy: Cruz 32% / Kenney 43%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Cruz 2.28/ Kenney 4.07
Defense: Cruz 73% / Kenney 59%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Cruz 3.05/ Kenney 1.25
Takedown Accuracy: Cruz 48% / Kenney 42%
Takedowns defended: Cruz 83% / Kenney 56%
Submission average: Cruz 0.1/ Kenney 0.6
UFC Picks
Could it be that Cruz is no longer a fighter who attracts a lot of attention in the UFC? He is not on the main card this time around and at 35 years old there is no doubt his best is behind him. Kenney is on the way up and I am a little surprised the price on this isn't higher. Maybe people are thinking this is the Cruz from five years ago. I think Kenney is the better fighter at this point in their careers, so I will lay the small price and take Kenney to get the win.
UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. Adesanya Card & Odds
Light Heavyweight - Jan Blachowicz +203 vs. Israel Adesanya -250
Women's Featherweight - Megan Anderson +725 vs. Amanda Nunes -1250
Bantamweight - Aljamain Sterling -115 vs. Petr Yan -109
Light Heavyweight - Thiago Santos +130 vs. Aleksandar Rakic -157
Bantamweight - Casey Kenney -137 vs. Dominick Cruz +113
Lightweight - Drew Dober +280 vs. Islam Makhachev -356
Flyweight - Joseph Benavidez +113 vs. Askar Askarov -137
Welterweight - Jake Matthews +170 vs. Sean Brady -206
Lightweight - Aalon Cruz +147 vs. Uroš Medic -176
Flyweight - Jordan Espinosa -127 vs. Tim Elliott +103
Bantamweight - Kyler Phillips +127 vs. Song Yadong -152
Flyweight - Kai Kara-France -137 vs. Rogério Bontorin +113
Women's Strawweight - Lívia Renata Souza +184 vs. Amanda Lemos -225
Light Heavyweight - Kennedy Nzechukwu +196 vs. Carlos Ulberg -240
Bantamweight - Trevin Jones +191 vs. Mario Bautista -235
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