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Hey, whatever makes you happy, and there may have been no one happier in Las Vegas on May 30 than the Arizona product, who bounced back from a February loss to Merab Dvalishvili with a first-round submission win over Louis Smolka that put his Octagon slate at 3-1.
“I was happy as can be,” he said. “Not only the short notice fight, but getting someone who was gonna bring the fight to me and throw down. I got exactly what I asked for, and when I get that, it’s gonna be a short night for them or, if they survive, it’s gonna be a Fight of the Night type of thing and I was able to get the job done, put him away and get my first finish in the UFC. I’ve had a few decisions, but I’m definitely always trying to finish fights and I finally got it done in the UFC in the first round. I couldn’t be happier, and I want to keep rolling with the momentum.”
He gets his chance this weekend, but while opponents like Borg, Smolka, Dvalishvili and Manny Bermudez had a bit (or a lot) of name recognition with fight fans, that’s not the case with China’s AlatengHeili, who is 2-0 in the UFC and the definition of a high risk fight. Kenney isn’t concerned with his opponent’s Twitter follower count, though. He knows he’s in a tough fight and he’s just looking for a win.
“I’m in a position now where I’ll fight anybody,” he said. “I just need to keep getting wins, keep putting on good performances and getting finishes. Alateng is no slouch. He’s 2-0 in the UFC, he’s tough, he’s gonna bring it, and I really don’t care who they put in front of me. Maybe when I get a couple more wins, I’ll start calling out some ranked guys and start working my way up that ladder again. But right now, I just want to keep fighting and putting money in my pocket and working my way back into those rankings.”