Florian: A Simple Plan
Lutfi Sariahmed Jul 26, 2009
Kenny
Florian wants to capitalize on his second chance.
Riding a six-fight winning streak, Florian will take another crack at the lightweight championship when he meets B.J. Penn in the UFC 101 “Declaration” main event on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
The 33-year-old Massachusetts native burst on the scene when he
reached the middleweight final on Season 1 of “The Ultimate
Fighter” in 2005, ultimately succumbing to the strikes of Diego
Sanchez. He fought and lost to Sean Sherk in a
bout for the vacant lightweight crown in 2006 but has steadily
developed into one of the sport’s premier 155-pounders. He is
clearly a different fighter than the one Sanchez took out.
“It’s night and day man,” Florian told the Sherdog Radio Network’s Savage Dog Show. “I go back and I laugh. People say you got so much better since then. Well, yeah, my skills were at zero. I hope I got better. I was so bad back then. It’s funny seeing the old chubby Kenny Florian fighting at 185. More than anything else, I think just the mental aspect and the scientific approach to training and all that stuff, I was just clueless; I really was. The mental and physical preparation it takes to go into a fight is so much. I had no clue. I think that was the main thing.”
“I just have to beat him at everything,” he said. “That’s the only thing I have to do.”
Kenny Florian
interview.
While Florian started with tongue firmly planted in cheek, his
strategy does not get much more complicated than that.
“It’s a tall task,” Florian said, “but, really, it comes down to that. You just have to be better at everything. B.J.’s so good at it all, I can’t say, ‘I really want to take this fight to the ground,’ or ‘I really want to strike with B.J.’ He’s so good at it all. It comes down to really just being a step ahead of anyone you fight. I have to do that with B.J. and make sure that I’m fighting him on my terms all the time, always leading the dance.”
One of the people who helped prepare Florian for Penn was the Hawaiian’s last dance partner in the cage, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. While the experience has proven invaluable to the Team Sityodtong veteran, he only took so much out of the time he spent with St. Pierre.
“Everyone is different,” Florian said. “Really, what I got out of training with Georges and his guys was just new training partners and high-level training. Any time you can experience the pressure, strength and technique of a Georges St. Pierre, who, in my opinion, is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters, that can only help you. Getting that type of intensity in training and sparring, learning new things, that’s only going to make you a better fighter, and Georges was phenomenal in that regard and helped me tremendously.”
A victory over Penn could also give Florian (11-3) the opportunity to avenge one of his three career losses. Sanchez, still the only man to finish Florian, has been dubbed as the No. 1 contender and lies in wait for the winner.
“I’d love another shot at Diego,” Florian said. “He’s a great fighter. He’s tough. What a great way to come full circle and show that I’m a completely different fighter since then. We started at the same time and at the same place and had a completely different result. Diego, he talks a lot; he said a lot of things. He said how he was going to come in and take this division by storm and put on all these amazing performances and do this and do that, and I’m still waiting for it. I haven’t seen these amazing performances. It was a great fight that last fight against Guida. It wasn’t this dominating performance he was talking about, and the same with Stevenson [at UFC 95]. I thought Stevenson could’ve stolen that fight.”
Florian also questions whether Sanchez warrants the first spot in line.
“I still think Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar deserve a shot above Diego, but I know the fight with Diego is way more marketable and for me; it’s easy for me,” Florian said. “I don’t have to go chasing Diego. He could come find me and we’ll fight and that would be great, but first things first. I think B.J. Penn is a much greater challenge than Diego Sanchez.”
Riding a six-fight winning streak, Florian will take another crack at the lightweight championship when he meets B.J. Penn in the UFC 101 “Declaration” main event on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
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“It’s night and day man,” Florian told the Sherdog Radio Network’s Savage Dog Show. “I go back and I laugh. People say you got so much better since then. Well, yeah, my skills were at zero. I hope I got better. I was so bad back then. It’s funny seeing the old chubby Kenny Florian fighting at 185. More than anything else, I think just the mental aspect and the scientific approach to training and all that stuff, I was just clueless; I really was. The mental and physical preparation it takes to go into a fight is so much. I had no clue. I think that was the main thing.”
Florian has a simple strategy for Penn.
“I just have to beat him at everything,” he said. “That’s the only thing I have to do.”
“It’s a tall task,” Florian said, “but, really, it comes down to that. You just have to be better at everything. B.J.’s so good at it all, I can’t say, ‘I really want to take this fight to the ground,’ or ‘I really want to strike with B.J.’ He’s so good at it all. It comes down to really just being a step ahead of anyone you fight. I have to do that with B.J. and make sure that I’m fighting him on my terms all the time, always leading the dance.”
One of the people who helped prepare Florian for Penn was the Hawaiian’s last dance partner in the cage, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. While the experience has proven invaluable to the Team Sityodtong veteran, he only took so much out of the time he spent with St. Pierre.
“Everyone is different,” Florian said. “Really, what I got out of training with Georges and his guys was just new training partners and high-level training. Any time you can experience the pressure, strength and technique of a Georges St. Pierre, who, in my opinion, is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters, that can only help you. Getting that type of intensity in training and sparring, learning new things, that’s only going to make you a better fighter, and Georges was phenomenal in that regard and helped me tremendously.”
A victory over Penn could also give Florian (11-3) the opportunity to avenge one of his three career losses. Sanchez, still the only man to finish Florian, has been dubbed as the No. 1 contender and lies in wait for the winner.
“I’d love another shot at Diego,” Florian said. “He’s a great fighter. He’s tough. What a great way to come full circle and show that I’m a completely different fighter since then. We started at the same time and at the same place and had a completely different result. Diego, he talks a lot; he said a lot of things. He said how he was going to come in and take this division by storm and put on all these amazing performances and do this and do that, and I’m still waiting for it. I haven’t seen these amazing performances. It was a great fight that last fight against Guida. It wasn’t this dominating performance he was talking about, and the same with Stevenson [at UFC 95]. I thought Stevenson could’ve stolen that fight.”
Florian also questions whether Sanchez warrants the first spot in line.
“I still think Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar deserve a shot above Diego, but I know the fight with Diego is way more marketable and for me; it’s easy for me,” Florian said. “I don’t have to go chasing Diego. He could come find me and we’ll fight and that would be great, but first things first. I think B.J. Penn is a much greater challenge than Diego Sanchez.”
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