MMA Preview – Dominick Cruz vs Casey Kenney at UFC 259
DOMINICK CRUZ VS CASEY KENNEY FACTS
When is UFC 259? Sunday 7th March, 2021 - 01:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC 259? UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada (US)
Where can I get tickets for UFC 259? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC events
What channel is UFC 259 on? BT Sport 2
Where can I stream UFC 259? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!
DOMINICK CRUZ VS CASEY KENNEY LOWDOWN
The clearest indication of how stacked this card is, is that Dominick Cruz (22-3) is on the prelims. We have not seen the excellence and grace of the former bantamweight champion since his third UFC title defence against Urijah Faber back in 2016. Everyone knows injuries have ravaged his career and he has only fought twice since that vintage unanimous win. He lost the title to Cody Garbrandt who pulled out the best performance of his career in 2016 and Cruz eventually returned to fight the new champion Henry Cejudo but got caught with a huge knee which led to suffering the first knockout of his career.
He has accepted an extremely tough match-up in Casey Kenney (16-2-1). He is unranked but is one of the toughest fights to take at the moment. His only loss in his last 10 was to Merab Dvalishvili and he is currently on a three-fight win streak submitting Louis Smolka and earning unanimous decisions over Heili Alateng and Nathaniel Wood.
DOMINICK CRUZ VS CASEY KENNEY PREDICTION
Kenney’s record does not compare to Cruz although very few records do but he is improving with every fight and has hardly any holes in his game. He is an outstanding grappler with black belts in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is also very slick on the feet.
However, if just a glimpse of the old Cruz shows up, he will show Kenney a slickness on the feet he as never seen before. Cruz was suffering from plantar fasciitis before the Garbrandt fight which would have hugely hampered his footwork and very few fighters were beating Cejudo at the time they fought let alone with a four-year layoff.
That said, not winning a fight for four years is impossible to ignore and Kenney could pick up the biggest win of his career, but then again Cruz could also end up schooling him. It will not be a classic Cruz matador performance, but not fighting on the prelims and a five-round title fight will only help him and we back him to show enough of that footwork and movement to avoid taking any serious damage and counter with precision to get back to his old winning ways.
Kenney is understandably the favourite based on current form, but if Cruz starts quick with a solid first round, all the value is with him.
Prediction: Cruz via Decision - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)
Value Bet: Cruz via Decision
