Casey James Kenney (born March 20, 1991) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He is currently competing in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...

division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC) and he was the former

Tachi Palace Fights Tachi Palace Fights (TPF) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which hosted events at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Matchmaker for TPF was former fighter Richard Goodman. Regarded as a regional promotion, ...

Flyweight champion and

Legacy Fighting Alliance Legacy Fighting Alliance is an American mixed martial arts promotion, created as a result of the ''Legacy Fighting Championship'' and ''Resurrection Fighting Alliance'' merger in early 2017. History Resurrection Fighting Alliance On October 11, ...

Flyweight and Bantamweight champion.

Background

Kenney was born in 1991 to Brian Kenney and Roxanne Mosier in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. He started training judo at the age of five, eventually becoming nine-time national champion and holds 2nd dan black belt in the sport. Besides judo, Kenney started wrestling around the time he went to school. Like in judo, Kenney excelled in wrestling too, winning multiple state championships in both

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

and Greco-Roman wrestling. Kenney attended Jay County High School in Indiana. After high school, he took his first amateur mixed martial arts bout on a whim without prior training. He went to study at

University of Indianapolis The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University an ...

, only to drop out after sophomore year to pursue his career in mixed martial arts. In an effort to do so, Kenney moved to

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

to train at the MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz. and turned professional in late 2014.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Kenney fought most of his early professional fights primarily in the

and Dragon House in California and Arizona. After amassing a record of 6-0 and captured the Tachi Palace Flyweight title against Alvin Cacdac, Kenney made two appearances in

Dana White's Contender Series Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been move ...

web-series program on July 18, 2017, facing C.J. Hamilton at Dana White's Contender Series 2, where he won the fight via unanimous decision, but lost to Adam Antolin at Dana White's Contender Series 8 on August 29, 2017. Kenney went on to fought under

for the next four fights and he became the Flyweight and Bantamweight Legacy Fighting Alliance champion prior signed with UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In his UFC debut, Kenney faced Ray Borg, replacing Kyler Phillips in six day notice, on March 30, 2019 at

UFC on ESPN 2 ''UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Gaethje'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 2'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on March 30, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ba ...

. At the weigh-ins, Borg weighed in at 137.75 lbs, 1.75 pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136 lbs. He was fined 20% of his fight purse and his bout against Kenney proceeded at catchweight. Kenney won the fight via unanimous decision. On December 29, 2018, Kenney faced

Manny Bermudez Manny Bermudez (born July 19, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. A professional mixed martial artist since 2015, Bermudez has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

on August 17, 2019 at

UFC 241 ''UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 17, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Background A UFC Heavyweight Championship rematch betw ...

. However, the UFC decided to move the bout to a catchweight bout of 140 lbs. due to the fighters cutting substantial weight the night before weigh-ins. Kenney won the bout via unanimous decision. Kenney faced

Merab Dvalishvili Merab Dvalishvili (born January 10, 1991) is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of March 13, 2023, he is #1 in the UFC bantamweight ra ...

on February 15, 2020 at

UFC Fight Night 167 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Kenney faced

Louis Smolka Louis Smolka (born July 16, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has previously fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, California Xtreme Fighting, Kin ...

on May 30, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns. He won the fight via a submission through a guillotine choke in round one. Kenney was expected to face

Alateng Heili Alateng Heili (; born December 14, 1991) is a Chinese mixed martial artist of Mongol ethnicity who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Following his father's footsteps, Alateng started wrest ...

on September 27, 2020 at

UFC 253 ''UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 27, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event was or ...

. However, due to unknown reasons, it was moved to UFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Aldana on October 4, 2020. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Kenny faced Nathaniel Wood on October 24, 2020 at

UFC 254 ''UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 24, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event proceeded ...

. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the '' Fight of the Night'' award. Kenney faced former WEC and UFC Bantamweight Champion

Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz (born March 9, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz ha ...

UFC 259 ''UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya '' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 6, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United ...

on March 6, 2021. He lost the fight via split decision. Kenney faced

Song Yadong Song Yadong (; born December 2, 1997) is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 6, 2022, he is #8 in the UFC bantamweight rankings. Background Raised by a s ...

on August 7, 2021 at

UFC 265 ''UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 7, 2021, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Background An interim UFC Heavyweight Championshi ...

. He lost the fight via split decision.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Fight of the Night (One time) *

**Tachi Palace Fights Flyweight Champion (One time) *

**Legacy Fighting Alliance interim Flyweight Champion (One time) **Legacy Fighting Alliance interim Bantamweight Champion (One time) *

MMAjunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''The N ...

**2020 October Fight of the Month

Mixed martial arts record

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Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1–1 , Brandon Royval , Decision (unanimous) , LFA 53 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

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Roman Salazar Roman Salazar (born February 21, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of Bellator. Background Born and raised in raised in the small town of Mammoth, Arizona, Salazar worked for ...

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Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 25 ...

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Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Casey 1991 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Arizona Mixed martial artists from California Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male judoka American male sport wrestlers American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu