Former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will return to face Casey Kenney on the ESPN “Prelims” portion of the UFC 259 fight card, a place “The Dominator” insists he’s “excited” to be.
Getting assigned to the UFC “Prelims” is not a demotion, despite what Kevin Lee thinks.
On the contrary, more MMA fans will tune in to watch the featured preliminary contest than the actual main card. That’s an argument Urijah Faber made way back in 2014 when he found himself on FOX Sports 1 ahead of UFC 175.
Sounds like Dominick Cruz (for once) actually agrees with “The California Kid.”
“That’s probably the most seen position on the entire fight card,” Cruz told ESPN (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “I’ll have the most eyes on me. Like I said, I’ve had a pretty decent layoff, so let’s get me in front of a lot of eyes is what I’m thinking. At the same time, being on the prelims, that’s an ego thing. I’m not really attached to my ego at this point. I know what I am. I know the things that I’ve accomplished. It doesn’t affect me to be seen more, and I will. I’ll be seen more.”
Cruz (22-3) has not competed since slugging his way through a waft of cigarettes and booze at UFC 249 last May, where the oft-injured “Dominator” came up short (no pun intended) against the since-retired Henry Cejudo.
His next assignment comes against Casey Kenney at UFC 259 on March 6.
“More people tune into that then they will the main card,” Cruz continued. “I’m right before the main card so everybody is watching that one because it’s the end of the prelims. It’s kind of like the lead-off hitter of a baseball team. That’s usually the fight that people wanna see almost every time they put these fights together. I’m excited to be in that position.”
Cruz, 35, is looking to snap a two-fight losing streak.