Athletes
Prepare To See A New Kennedy Nzechukwu
Kennedy Nzechukwu Enters His Second Fight Of 2024 With Hopes Of Showing His Creativity, Striking And Jiu-Jitsu Abilities
UFC fans only got to see a small portion of what heavyweight Kennedy Nzechukwu can do. Less than two months ago, Nezchukwu made his debut in the division against Chris Barnett, earning a first-round TKO victory after Barnett suffered an injury shortly into the fight.
As he heads into his second fight among the big boys, the “African Savage” is feeling all the benefits of moving into his new weight class.
“It was way better,” Nzechukwu said. “I'm not cutting 40 pounds; my body is just responding properly, and I just feel more relaxed and calmer. Doing the weight cuts, it takes a lot of my cardio. Now I feel good.”
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Prior to his fight in October, Nzechukwu spent his UFC career at 205 pounds. After dropping back-to-back contests to Dustin Jacoby and Ovince Saint Preux, Nzechukwu decided it was time for a change, hence the weight class change.
During his time at 205 pounds, the 32-year-old went 6-4, but when he looks back at his time as a light heavyweight, he isn’t proud of the work he did. As an athlete, you always want to keep improving, and that was no different for Nzechukwu, who really wanted to focus on his striking. The Fortis MMA product went and spent time with Steven Wright, and he believes that is going to be a key in his success moving forward.
“I've been in this game for eight years now, but I felt rushed because I started out when I was 24. That doesn't matter, you just have to get the job done. So, I definitely needed to zone in on that because if you look at my fights, my light heavyweight fights, horrible. That's something that was definitely missing from my whole game. Now I'm getting to work on that, and I get to add that and implement that.”
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His second test at heavyweight comes against Poland’s Lukasz Brzeski. Brzeski was originally supposed to fight Tallison Texieira, but when he withdrew from the fight, it was Nzechukwu who stepped in.
Getting one more fight in before the end of 2024 is something that Nzechukwu is thankful for.
“I thought I was going to be fighting in the Australia card in February, but then I prayed, and God answered me,” Nzechukwu said. “I'm happy. I want to be more active, and I would like to fight five times a year and stay busy. That's the only way I can gain the experience that is necessary, especially at this level.”
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When asked about his opponent, Nzechuwku didn’t have a ton to say on him. He truly is locked on his performance and being the one leaving T-Mobile Arena victorious on Saturday night.
“I see myself getting my hand raised,” Nzechukwu said. “I feel that it's going to be a dominant performance. It's just business. Go out there, perform, try to get him out of there in the first round and that'll be good, getting the bonus, but I’m focused on getting the job done on Saturday night.”
People only saw 4:27 of what Nzechukwu can do as a heavyweight. He is determined to show off even more of his skillset as he opens the card on Saturday night.
“(I want to show) my creativity, my striking, obviously, I've been working on, too, because I'm good at jiu-jitsu, but no one ever saw that because light heavyweight Kennedy sucked, so now they get to see the whole Kennedy and how comfortable I get to be in the cage.”
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Ending the year on a high note is important for Nzechukwu, who wants to get the ball rolling right away in 2025. He announced that he is expecting his first child next year, so he wants to be very active throughout the year, continuing to sharpen his skill set and potentially earn some bonus money.
“I would like it to be busy - more training, more learning, more growth. I've been consistent my whole career, but absorbing these things and these elements, the principles and virtues of striking and getting to employ that in the cage. I definitely want to be busy in 2025, five times, six times a year. I'm expecting a kid next year, by God's grace, and kids need diapers. I thank God for my journey so far. And I can't wait. I'm excited.
UFC 310: Pantoja vs Asakura took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 7, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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