Since I first interviewed Tom Kenney in early 2004 it was apparent that he and his lucky red striped socks were destined for something great. He was on a quest, a quest to fight in Japan and a quest for the King of the Cage Welterweight belt.
I had never seen Tom fight before so when he quickly dismantled Ray Elbe at King of the Cage After Shock in early 2004 I was impressed. After that he took Jorge Pereira to decision at KOTC -Unfinished Business in June 2004 and won that fight as well. It looked as though Tom was on a fast track for a shot at the 170lb belt.
Then in March of 2005 Tom lost a tough judge decision to Charles Taylor. It seemed as though all of the momentum Tom had been building in 2004 had been stopped. Tom looked to start the momentum again in June 2005 in a fight with Aaron Torres. Tom made short work of Torres choking him out by guillotine choke at 3:33 in the first. The momentum was back.
Late 2005 Tom seemingly took a step back in his quest after he decided to take on up and comer 145er Shaun Bias. Bias defeated his teacher and mentor John DelaO and Kenney wanted revenge. “I felt that my instructor should have beat him. I was pretty upset over the way the fight went so I jumped in the ring and grabbed Terry Trebilcock and offered the challenge right then and there. I said it didn’t matter what weight or whatever. I will get to whatever weight I need to… to get the fight” Bias agreed to fight Kenney at 155. “It’s a pretty crazy weight though I haven’t been 155 since my freshman year in high school.” On the day of the weigh-ins he told me that barely anybody recognized him he was so skinny even with his trade mark 2 toned hair. During the fight it looked as though Kenney might have made a mistake cutting down to 155. Early in the second Bias dropped Kenney with a right but haphazardly dove in to Kenney’s guard setting himself up for a choke.
After getting the win Kenney was shortly ranked in the top 5 155ers for King of the Cage but he told me he would never fight at 155 again and that 170 was his weight. After seeing him the day of the fight I agreed.
During this time the 170lb belt went back in forth between James Fanshier and Thomas Denny with Fanshier winning the first fight by decision and Denny wining convincingly in the second by KO. It looked as though Kenney would have to take on Denny to get the belt but then the unexpected happened. 2-2 Matt Stansell quickly tapped Denny out with a Triangle choke sending Kenney’s shot at a belt to late 2006 early 2007 with Denny’s obvious rematch looming.
Then the unexpected happened. Denny had a contract dispute with KOTC and Stansell (rumored to be retired) would give up his title. It was announced after Kenney’s win over Bryson Kamaka that his next fight would be for the belt.
Kenney looks to complete his quest this Friday at King of the Cage Rapid Fire taking on Aaron Wetherspoon for the Welterweight title. “He’s bigger than me and stronger than me but as long as I stick to my game plane I should do pretty good.”
His main goal after the fight is the same to fight in Japan. “I will fight for Sushi in Japan.”
Tom and his socks will be ready this Friday for KOTC Rapid Fire.
Brad Doerges
brad@mma-fighter.com
http://mma-fighter.com/forum/threads/14991-Tom-Kenney-The-Quest
December 2nd, 2005 – Soboba Casino Only moments after armbarring Kevin Donnelly in 15 seconds, Nam called out the newly crowned King of the Cage Lightweight Champion Mac Danzig. Danzig had only this to say in response, “Hey Nam you’re a good fighter but, you’re not ready to fight me buddy”. In this post fight interview Nam talks about his the possibilities of his upcoming championship fight with Danzig and his future in Japan with Pancrase and Pride.
Brad – So what about that business card that you just got? (Nam’s Friend Reaches for the card)
Brad – So what happened before the fight? Why didn’t you fight Chris Solomon? Or Albert Hill who is on the fight card I got before the show.
Brad Doerges – So it’s a 3 days before your fight on Dec 2nd at King Of The Cage Do you know who you are fighting yet?
Brad – So was it all the training at APEX that helped you beat Joe Camacho at the last Never Tap tournament?
FILTHY ATHLETICS
In the 
Karo – They are like dude you gotta make a good impression or they won’t bring you back. I was at 170 a month before the (Dave) Strasser fight I was so excited about it. I popped a rib a week before the fight and I had to have a cortisone shot… I was dead in my brain… people were calling me like Karo I have so much money on you… I was like shut the fuck up… Chris Brennan calls me is like “I put 2000 dollars on you… but no pressure.” I’m like get the fuck outta my site bro. I’ll kill these mother fuckers… Leave me the fuck alone… The surprising thing was that once I got to the fight I felt fine… Once I got in on him I was like I can throw this guy… I thought he was gonna be way better. He beat Romi Aram who had beat Jerry Bohlander who had fought Tito Ortiz. Strasser goes all three rounds with him gasses him out. Mounts him… I’m thinking this guy is good grappler… He can strike too… I saw him fight Chris Lytle… Chris Lytle is a class act a great guy and good fighter too… He just couldn’t get his game going with me. I just didn’t want him to hit me… He rocked Robbie (Lawler) in that stand up war. I don’t want any of that shit I’m just gonna take him down.
Brad – What do you feel about BJ Penn’s Claim to the UFC 170 belt?
Karo – No I beat Miller worse than George St Pierre did probably. I mounted him I did what ever I wanted to him. I threw him, I had him armbarred and his arm was completely stretched out. Then the doctor threw a towel in but he got out so we were like what’s going on? The doctor was basically trying to let the referee know that Miller wasn’t responding to anything and that maybe he should stop the fight. I beat him up bad. He was talking shit before and during the fight. I cussed his corner out Tiki (Ghosn), Quinton Jackson, and (Colin) Oyama. I was smiling at them and hitting him when I had him mounted. They were in Little Armenia so they couldn’t do shit.
Karo – He got in Robbies head. Did you see him when he fought me? He was scared. “I think it’s a bad match up for me…” He said that during the preflight interview. Who says that? Diaz is a tough kid. He will keep on coming, he doesn’t give up. He hit me in the first round I was like “this guy knocked out Robbie?” With Robbie he just caught him clean on his jaw *bink* just dropped him. I think Chris Lylte is better on the ground than Nick Diaz. He has a better inside guard. Good sweeps. Not like a better grappler but for MMA he is better. I’ve never seen him (Diaz) go for a submission on anyone and he tried to go for a kimura on me. It’s like trying to power punch with Tyson. It was actually very tight but he didn’t have it right. It was a very close fight. Thank God I was able to edge out the decision.
Karo – Jacare… Is he good?
Karo – I’ve never seen any of his matches. I have to see them to make my decision. All I know is that everyone is taking about this Marcello Garcia guy. Everyone is talking about this kid along with Jacare. I don’t know who the best is. What is the best? I’ve been against Brazilian black belt guys that will supposedly choke me out… before the Serra fight like I wanna go and test my self. I schooled these guys because they are straight Jiu Jitsu. They are not strong. I come from a Judo background where you have to be real strong and we are rough too. I love rolling with Jiu Jitsu guys… not like it… LOVE it. I went up against this dude up in Big Bear when I was helping Vitor train for his fight. His friend a 6’5 Brazilian, imagine how crazy this guy would be, but I handled him. He was like “maybe it’s something I eat?” Then Vitor was like “Karo come here… hit me as hard as you can.” I was like “are you crazy?” Vitor is a great guy too. People underestimate his grappling… he’s got some pretty good skills. He’s strong too but not as strong as he should be to fight Randy at 205… Randy is a Tank… He pushes like a truck too…
Karo – Georges St-Pierre. Him vs Trigg is gonna be a sick ass fight. Anything can happen but I’m leaning towards Trigg in that fight since I trained with Trigg and fought St-Pierre. Georges is good thought he has good strikes and he is a good wrestler.
I caught up with Karo Parisyan last week shortly after he finished a private lesson, a double cheeseburger, and a coke. He is fresh off a decisive win against Matt Serra and waiting in line for the biggest fight of his life; a chance at the UFC Welter Weight belt and at MMA’s most dominate champion: Matt Hughes.
Karo: They wanted to put me against him (Hughes) in the reality show that’s coming up in August. They wanted to give me a month to train for a title fight. Are you fucking nuts? I need like 2 ½ – 3 months to train… God forbid I lose at least I know that I trained for the fight.
Karo: I have thrown a lot of guys before. I’ve foot swept Randy (Couture) before. I’ve thrown Dan Henderson before. It’s practice but I have fought great wrestlers before. In a fight it’s different because you have punches but when we clinch up… It’s like Judo guys have the footwork Randy and Hughes are more steady. I think Trigg is a better wrestler but Hughes is just stronger and pushes like a truck. If you have seen the first fight between Hughes and Trigg, Trigg was just killing him. Boom boom boom he was all over him because he had so much confidence in himself. If he had fought the same fight that he fought the first time in their last fight he would have beaten Hughes. But once you lose to somebody… they are in your head…
Brad: So what was it like having Randy in your corner?
