UFC bantamweight Casey Kenney faced widespread backlash Thursday after he made “utterly degrading” sexual comments about fellow UFC fighter Megan Anderson and has issued an apology to the women’s featherweight title challenger with whom he’ll share a card at UFC 259.
Kenney came under fire for his words on “The Timbo Sugarshow” podcast co-hosted by Tim Welch and Sean O’Malley. Kenney was asked by Welch if he would “smash” Anderson – meaning have sex with her. He answered the question openly.
“Probably not, man,” Kenney said, laughing. “She’s not too … well, I mean, if it came down to it, and it was like 5 a.m., 4, she’s a 5 a.m.-er, 4 a.m.-er. Just us two hanging out, like, ‘F*ck it, let’s do it.’”
That portion of the interview was shared on Twitter and seen by Anderson. She quote-tweeted it and indicated discomfort at having to share the March 6 card with Kenney.
I guess MMA is a line of work where you can publicly talk about whether you’d have sex with a coworker in an utterly degrading way and face zero consequences.
Disgusting behavior and it’s unfortunate that he’ll be fighting on my card in March. https://t.co/hJd1OuHIyD
— Megan Anderson (@MeganA_mma) January 28, 2021
I guess MMA is a line of work where you can publicly talk about whether you’d have sex with a coworker in an utterly degrading way and face zero consequences.
Disgusting behavior and it’s unfortunate that he’ll be fighting on my card in March.
The UFC did not immediately respond to MMA Junkie’s request for comment about Anderson’s concerns.
Within 90 minutes of Anderson’s response, Kenney apologized directly to her.
“I’m sorry this upset you,” he wrote. “I will be more careful with my words. I was just answering a question and thought it was all a joking matter. I see I was wrong and I’m sorry. Best of luck with training camp and your fight.”
Anderson, 30, is set to challenge dual champion Amanda Nunes for the women’s 145-pound belt as part of a title triple header on the UFC 259 pay-per-view. Kenney, 29, will look for his fourth consecutive win in the biggest fight of his career against former UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.
UFC’s Casey Kenney apologizes to Megan Anderson after ‘utterly degrading’ sexual remarks
