Kenny Cross has finally found a home, even if just for a short while.
Too good for regional opponents and not lucky enough for a UFC call, Cross (17-4) has been in an awkward middle ground for years. It’s a position he’s struggled to maneuver out of, that is, until Most Valuable Promotions came along.
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“As soon as I heard that he was making this card, I started praying about it and I messaged (my management) Iridium and I talked to my coach and I had all of a sudden, more people now looking at my Tapology and they really wanted me,” Cross recently told MMA Junkie. “I’m like, ‘Holy crap.’ We were just leaving church and I got the call. I didn’t even hear who I was fighting. I just said, ‘Yep, yep.’ I said, ‘How much to show up? Yeah.’ I was like, ‘Who am I fighting?'”
Cross isn’t fighting an international superstar, but he’s fighting a national one, that’s for sure. KSW champion Saladhine Parnasse has all of France in the palm of his hand – and now in the Instagram DMs of Cross. The two will face off in a three-round welterweight bout on the MVP MMA undercard for its Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano event May 16.
“That’s what this journey is about, just having exciting fights,” Cross said. “My last fight was a Mongolian champion. People that wear the scary hats? Like that’s exciting to me because I’ve seen so many of these guys go out there and kill people. It’s like, ‘All right, well, let’s challenge this guy that’s exciting, that wakes me up, that makes me wanna train hard. Now, I’m fighting a superstar from France, and I don’t see this guy beating me. I know I’m gonna go out there and steal the show, and I just feel like a nobody because it’s just been beaten into me for the last… since 2020.”
Cross, 31, is referencing his lone UFC glance on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2020 when he defeated an overweight Kevin Syler by unanimous decision. The performance didn’t impress the UFC brass enough to offer a contract. He then went back to the regional scene and extended his winning streak to seven.
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The consecutive victories caught the attention of Bellator, which signed him. However, Cross lost his debut vs. Killys Mota. It was his one and only fight for the promotion.
He was also teased with a slot on “The Ultimate Fighter,” only to figure out last-second he was an alternate.
Cross made a lot of sacrifices relocating from Michigan to Las Vegas, to engulf himself in fight culture in the Fight Capital of the World. His patience has now paid off, as he’ll have top undercard placement on a card featuring various MMA legends. This is a moment he’s unwilling to let go by the wayside.
“This could catapult my career,” Cross said. “It feels just like when I was a kid again, first coming up in MMA and everybody just having that belief in me to where now it’s like, whether they want me to succeed or fail, they’re watching, and I know big things are gonna come from it. I’m definitely gonna go out there, and it’s like God’s timing. This is perfect. The fact that I’m kind of unknown, but I fought really high-level guys that just didn’t have the backing that this guy has. This is gonna give me a lot of motivation to go out there and put on the best display for who I am and my fight style and my character and my personality, hopefully be able to go out there and show the people who I am. And yeah, steal the show. This is gonna be the people’s main event.”
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Cross knows he’s not alone in MVP MMA being a breath of fresh air in the combat sports space. In a largely barren landscape of major MMA promotions, Cross says the value of the promotion’s entry into the space can’t be understated. He says it’s paying him multiples of an entry-level $10,000/$10,000 or $12,000/$12,000 UFC contract.
“I’m making five times what a UFC fighter would make in his first fight,” Cross said. “I’m making the whole first contract outside of if they get a bonus. It’s just like all my hard work is finally paying off, and no gatekeeping. It’s just like, what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I get into the UFC? Sean Shelby was at my fight and this guy, it’s like, I beat all these guys and I hear that if they beat me, they’re going into the UFC. Then I beat them and it’s just like, I never hear anything and I have the best management, and I have a six pack and I can do backflips and I do all these things and I’m just like spinning for treats. I lose all my integrity and I lose all my hope, and this kinda gave it all back to me now, so it’s like sunny skies and I’m just excited.
“I always walk around with positive energy, but it’s a tough feeling when you’re 31 now and you’re still not in the UFC and you were almost there when you were 25 and you’re like five times better than you were then, now. But now I’m too old and this is all I hear is I’m too this, and I’m too that. I just go knock out another guy. You just keep crushing skulls and eventually you’re gonna get in and that’s kind of what I expected, like I was ready for so many short notice fights and cutting weight and I could get ready on a week’s notice. Then it would get taken away again and I’d be like 1 pound away from making weight. So I just stayed diligent, consistent, disciplined, and rooted in my faith now and I’m just unstoppable.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Kenny Cross reveals difference between UFC and MVP fighter pay
