Tucson, Arizona’s Casey Kenney earns 3rd UFC win, submits Louis Smolka in Las Vegas

Fighting out of Tucson, Arizona, United States, Casey Kenney, 29, was one of the winners at “UFC on ESPN 9.” It was his third victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Kenney was born in Portland, Indiana, USA on March 20, 1991. He grew up in Portland but eventually moved to Tucson.

In 2019, Kenney made his UFC debut. The first two opponents he defeated in the promotion were Ray Borg and Manny Bermudez.

Before joining the UFC, Kenney was the flyweight champion of Tachi Palace Fights. He also held the championship titles of the flyweight and bantamweight divisions of Legacy Fighting Alliance.

 

Louis Smolka vs Casey Kenney

Featuring 11 professional mixed martial arts matches, “UFC on ESPN 9” took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on May 30, 2020. In the second bout of the evening, Kenney fought Louis “Da Last Samurai” Smolka, 28, of Kapolei, Hawaii, USA in the bantamweight division.

Chris Tognoni served as the referee. He put a stop to the bantamweight contest when Kenney submitted Smolka via guillotine choke at 3 minutes and 3 seconds in the first round.

“I’m an exciting fighter,” Kenney said in his post-fight interview. “I don’t put on boring fights. Anytime I step in there, it’s going to be fireworks and that’s why I love this sport.”

Winning at “UFC on ESPN 9” improved Kenney’s professional MMA records to 14 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. On the other hand, Smolka now has 16 wins and 7 losses.

 

“UFC on ESPN 9”

Brazil, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and the U.S. were represented at “UFC on ESPN 9,” which took place amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Kenney and Smolka were two of the representatives of the U.S.

In the co-main event of the evening, Augusto Sakai, 29, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil defeated Blagoy “Baga” Ivanov (Благой Иванов), 33, of Sofia, Bulgaria via split decision in the heavyweight division. In the main event, Gilbert “Durinho” Burns, 33, of Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil defeated Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley, 38, of St. Louis, Missouri in the welterweight division via unanimous decision.