Israel Adesanya's meteoric rise to UFC superstardom hit a rather large obstacle Saturday night. Light heavyweight title bout: Jan Blachowicz (c) (28-8, 11-5 UFC) defeats Israel Adesanya (20-1, 9-1 UFC) by unanimous decisionĭare to be great, good job kid 👍🏾- BONY March 7, 2021 Kenney, 29, is a former national champion judoka who has developed well-rounded striking at the MMA Lab. The Arizona resident has a 5-2 UFC record and remains one to watch in the bantamweight division. Kenney (16-3-1) was on a three-fight winning streak coming in. Cruz also is a prolific UFC on-air big congrats man! Looked great!- Paul Felder March 7, 2021

He relinquished the belt due to several knee surgeries and foot injuries, which have accounted for his inactivity. Cruz, 35, first won the WEC bantamweight title in 2010 and entered the UFC as champ. The San Diego resident's last bout before that was a loss to Cody Garbrandt in a bantamweight title fight way back at UFC 207 on Dec. 'I had to say that in my head and say that in my heart, lay my body on the line and be willing to do that, and I did.'Ĭruz (23-3) had not fought since a loss to Henry Cejudo in a bantamweight title fight at UFC 249 last May. 'In the third round, especially, I knew the fight was close it was probably 1-1, so that was the championship round,' Cruz said. Kenney landed hard several times, too, but not with the consistency of Cruz - and usually they did not come in combinations. In the third round, Cruz took Kenney down twice and landed more solid shots from the left and right. He stuck with his unorthodox style and hit Kenney with big shots in every round, including a shovel left hook in the first and a big blitzing combination in the second. But Cruz, known for his innovative footwork, never slowed down. Kenney had success throughout the fight kicking Cruz's legs. Adesanya will be available to watch on ESPN+. If the pay-per-view is purchased, all fights from UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. 'But I got the job done.' UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. 'A little closer than I wanted,' Cruz said in his postfight interview. It was Cruz's first victory since he beat Urijah Faber at UFC 299 on June 4, 2016. With the kind of technical and tactical performance that fans have come to expect, Cruz outpointed Casey Kenney via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27) on the prelims at the UFC Apex.

But at UFC 259, one of the best bantamweight fighters ever proved once again that he can hang with the top athletes in the division. He has just six fights in the past decade. LAS VEGAS - Before Saturday, Dominick Cruz had fought just once since 2016.

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