Casey Kenney asked for a quick turnaround, and that’s exactly what he’ll get.
After battering Heili Alateng for three rounds at UFC on ESPN 16 this past weekend in Abu Dhabi, Kenney will compete once again on “Fight Island” when he faces Nathaniel Wood on Oct. 24 at UFC 254.
MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with multiple people with knowledge of the situation following an initial report from MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant.
Since joining the UFC roster in March 2019, Kenney (15-2-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has won four of his past five and two straight over Louis Smolka and Alateng. He will enter his fourth fight in 2020, with his lone loss coming to Merab Dvalishvili in February.
Wood (17-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC), a former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion, rebounded from his first UFC loss to John Dodson in February, with a unanimous decision win over newcomer John Castaneda at UFC on ESPN 14 in July.
With the addition, the UFC 254 lineup includes:
- Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje – for lightweight title
- Jared Cannonier vs. Robert Whittaker
- Walt Harris vs. Alexander Volkov
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Islam Makhachev
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Ion Cutelaba
- Phil Hawes vs. Jacob Malkoun
- Stefan Struve vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Alex Oliveira vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Sam Alvey vs. Da Un Jung
- Liana Jojua vs. Miranda Maverick
- Sergey Morozov vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
- Casey Kenney vs. Nathaniel Wood