Dominick Cruz did not have an easy night at the office, but the former bantamweight champion still had the task of securing his first victory since 2016 in the UFC 259 preliminaries.
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout, but Cruz was able to work out Casey Kenney for the best part of three rounds to eventually win a split decision. The judges won the battle 30-27 and 29-28 for Cruz, with the third official giving Kenney the nod with a 29-28 scorecard.
Stiil was enough for Cruz to claim the win and return to the winning column after suffering rugby losses in his last two title fights against Henry Cejudo and Cody Garbrandt.
“A little closer than I wanted to, but did the job,” Cruz said after the win. “I expected him to be able to accelerate, but he kept up.”
Always fast on his feet, Cruz was chopping Kenney away with kicks, including a few down shots in the legs and then back on top of the head. Cruz’s elimination caused Kenney headaches, as he always looked just behind the former champion weightlifting champion.
Just before the end of the opening round, Kenney started shooting back with a few kicks from his own leg, trying to slow Cruz to move so much in the octagon.
Kenney continued with the game plan as he tried to stop the constant movement, but Cruz found a home for his right hand while avoiding the big, loopy blows of his opponent. Still, Kenney was more or less willing to trade shot for shot, including a tight left hand, as the second round came to an end that definitely got Cruz’s attention.
With a close fight through two rounds, Cruz removed some tasks while Kenney swung for the fences, trying to inflict more damage to his feet. Although it was a strikingly close battle, Cruz’s ability to continuously connect with the better overall shots enabled him to appear on the scorecards.
Injuries have plagued Cruz for so much of his career, but he was still able to beat a tournament in Kenney on Saturday night, proving that there is still a lot of fighting left in him.
Instead of calling out another bantamweight, however, Cruz decided to take time in his interview after the fight to ask for a fight against a Monster Energy Drinks driver.
“I would like to set up a charity fight,” Cruz said. ‘There is a man named Hans Molenkamp, who has held many fighters hostage and said that he is a wonderful pro fighter and that he can take them all out. I would love to choose Monster for a charity of their choice, and Hans and I do. ‘