It’s a wise strategy, one that has gotten Kenney through his latest camp, which comes on the heels of an impressive Fight of the Night win over Nathaniel Wood in October.
“I approach every fight pretty similar, no matter who you are, and that’s first and foremost,” he said. “I focus on myself and get what I have sharp and then second, focus on the opponent and what they’re capable of and what their strengths are. So this has been a typical training camp for me, except I got a guy trying to move like Dominick a little bit. We can only get the best version of Dom that we can find; Dominick’s got his own style, his own thing and it’s hard to emulate Dominick Cruz exactly. That’s why he is who he is. So I just focus on what I have sharp – my Fight IQ, my eyes are great and just let the fight come to me.”
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That’s what you hope to hear from anyone entering the biggest fight of his life, but what happens when the Octagon door shuts and all of a sudden, you’re facing Dominick Cruz?
Kenney is ready for that too, just like you expect him to be.
“I always have those little moments, whether it’s the Octagon door closing shut or hearing Bruce Buffer,” said Kenney. “We’re in the UFC, and we’re having those surreal moments where I gotta stay present and not focus off into some childhood fantasy land. But that’s what I do. I’ve been competing a long time, I’ve grabbed a bunch of belts, I’ve grabbed a bunch of championships, I’ve lost, I’ve come back, I’ve been a competitor since as far back as I can remember – five, six years old – so all those things I’ve had to go through in my life, all those moments where I had to stay focused and capitalize on them, I don’t see it being any different for Dominick Cruz. We’re gonna get in there, I’m gonna come after him and try to take his head off, and it’s gonna be exciting.”
