Casey Kenney is favored against Louis Smolka at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns on Saturday, May 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event is one of six fights on the preliminary card on ESPN. Kenney is 13-2-1 in his career, while Smolka is 16-6 in his career. There are a total of five fights on the main card on UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns, with the headliner a bout between Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns. There are also a total of six fights on the preliminary card on ESPN. Let’s look at the bout between Kenney and Smolka and UFC predictions.
Casey Kenney 13-2-1, 2-1 UFC
Kenney came into the UFC with a record of 11-1-1 and he has two wins and one loss in the UFC. He defeated Ray Borg by unanimous decision and Manny Bermudez by unanimous decision; while losing to Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision. Kenney has been a pro since 2014 and he has two wins by TKO/KO and four by submission. He has four first round finishes.
Kenney said this to mmaweekly.com about his upcoming fight against Smolka, “I really like the match-up ad it’s a little different than my last match-up with Merab. Louis likes to stand there, trade with you, and he’s got a similar grappling style to me. It should be exciting. I think I’ve just got to go out, control the fight, land my shots when I need to, and see what happens. No matter what happens with this fight, I’m ready to go. This is what I like to do. I’d jump back in there, but obviously I’ve got a tough task in front of me in Smolka. I’m going to focus on that. I’m not really looking ahead to another opponent. I know I’m going to want to get back in there regardless of what happens. Smolka is the task at hand for now, so I’m going to focus on him before the next one.”
Louis Smolka 16-6, 7-6 UFC
Smolka came into the UFC with a record of 6-0 and he has seven wins and six losses in the UFC. He defeated Alp Ozkilic by unanimous decision, Richie Vaculik by KO, Neil Seery by unanimous decision, Paddy Holohan by rear-naked choke submission, Ben Nguyen by TKO, Su Mudaerji by armbar submission, and Ryan McDonald by TKO; while losing to Chris Cariaso by split decision, Brandon Moreno by guillotine choke submission, Ray Borg by unanimous decision, Tim Elliott by unanimous decision, Matheus Nicolau by unanimous decision, and Matt Schnell by triangle choke submission. Smolka has been a pro since 2012 and he has seven wins by TKO/KO and seven by submission. He has four first round finishes.
Smolka said this to mmajunkie.usatoday.com about his upcoming fight against Kenney, “He’s done pretty well in the UFC and he’s fought at 135. He’s fought guys, his first two fights, the guys didn’t even make weight and he still won. I give that dude props, man. He’s a gamer. He’s about it. He’s a pro. He’s here. He’s real. He’s not here for the IG fame or anything. He’s here to fight. I give the dude props and I’m ready to go to war with him. I’m going to keep hitting him until he stops moving.”
Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Kenney 3.39/ Smolka 4.22
Striking Accuracy: Kenney 40% / Smolka 46%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Kenney 3.20/ Smolka 3.47
Defense: Kenney 56% / Smolka 53%
Grappling Stats
Takedown average: Kenney 1.40/ Smolka 1.65
Takedown Accuracy: Kenney 50% / Smolka 34%
Takedowns defended: Kenney 52% / Smolka 30%
Submission average: Kenney 0.6/ Smolka 2.1
Kenney is listed as almost a 3-1 favorite in this fight and I can see why. Kenney is a fighter on his way up, while Smolka is in all reality a journeyman. Smolka will win a fight and then lose a fight and that keeps him in the UFC. I hate laying big prices, but I am not taking the underdog Smolka. Both of these fighters are really tough and I see this one going the distance, so I will take the rounds to go over the total.
UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns takes place at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, May 30 with five fights on the main card, headlined by Tyron Woodley vs. Gilbert Burns and six preliminary bouts. All 11 bouts will be shown on ESPN.
Main Card ESPN
Welterweight – Tyron Woodley -192 vs. Gilbert Burns
Heavyweight – Augusto Sakai -120 vs. Blagoy Ivanov
Welterweight – Kevin Holland -230 vs. Daniel Rodriguez
Lightweight – Roosevelt Roberts -340 vs. Brok Weaver
Women’s Strawweight – Mackenzie Dern -425 vs. Hannah Cifers
Preliminary Card ESPN
Antonina Shevchenko -145 vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Billy Quarantillo -150 vs. Spike Carlyle
Jamahal Hill -132 vs. Klidson Abreu
Tim Elliott -195 vs. Brandon Royval
Casey Kenney -285 vs. Louis Smolka
Chris Gutierrez -115 vs. Vince Morales
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