Neither reside in Tucson currently, but both Dominick Cruz and Casey Kenney called The Old Pueblo home at one point.
The two will fight each other in Saturday's UFC 259 prelims leading up to the main card that's headlined by the light-heavyweight title bout between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya at The UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The 5-foot-8-inch, 135-pound Cruz, 35, moved to Tucson from San Diego during his childhood. He graduated from Flowing Wells High School, returned to the UFC in May after a four-year hiatus, and fought Phoenix-based fighter Henry Cejudo in UFC 249. Cejudo knocked out Cruz (22-3), holding on to the bantamweight title, and then his retirement from fighting.
Kenney (16-2-1) was born and raised in Indiana before moving to Tucson in 2014. He currently trains out of the MMA Lab in Mesa.
“We got Tucson on the map! We got two guys from Tucson, of all places in the world," Cruz said in an interview with ESPN MMA.
In what he called "one of the best years of my life," the 5-7, 135-pound Kenney won three out of four fights in 2020. The 29-year-old is hopeful to take another step in his career with a fight against the two-time bantamweight champion. Meanwhile, Cruz is looking to win his first UFC fight in nearly five years, when he beat Urijah Faber in UFC 199.
"I started watching Dominick back in 2011, and to get that name is pretty surreal. I feel like I'm in the exact position that I should be in," Kenney said in his pre-fight press conference. "Dominick Cruz is the kind of guy I got into this sport to fight. What better way to fight than take out a legend?"
Added Kenney: "The way I fight, if you survive, it's going to be the fight of the night. And if you don't, I'm going to have a performance bonus on a knockout or submission, so same thing goes for Dominick Cruz."
The UFC 259 prelims will air on ESPN beginning at 6 p.m. with the Cruz-Kenney fight as the last match of the broadcast.
