« BJ Penn really loves James Toney and admits first Edgar fight was a bad fight for him | Home | Dana White says he’s been straight-up honest about the way he’s promoted Toney/Couture at UFC 118 »
Kenny Florian says UFC 118 fight against Gray Maynard is toughest career fight
By Zach Arnold | August 26, 2010
A very intriguing interview with Kenny Florian on MMAFighting.com, where he talks about fighting Takanori Gomi with the staph infection. (Should the North Carolina commission have allowed him to fight, even if he dominated?) Also, he makes his case for why he deserves a Lightweight title shot if he beats Gray Maynard.
Transcript available in full-page mode.
ARIEL HELWANI: “This is a very big deal for you, right? I mean, Boston. Did you ever think, seriously, that you would be able to fight in a UFC fight in Boston?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “Man, if you told me this five years ago, even maybe even three years ago I’d probably would have said you’re crazy, you know. It’s amazing how far this sport has come and again I’ve said this a thousand times but I really do feel like I’m walking out and living my dream on Saturday night. To compete here at the TD Garden in my home town, nothing better than that. Win or lose, I feel like I’ve won, I really do.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “We know that athletes are creatures of habit and you’ve fought all over the country. But since this one in your, you know, essentially your backyard, are you, you know, doing it a little differently or are you staying in a hotel all that stuff just to keep the habit up?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “Honestly, I hate living out of a hotel room. I’ve done it probably the last couple of years doing it and I feel so much more comfortable when I sleep in my own bed, when I can go to my own refrigerator to get the food that I want, especially my diet is so specific and my requirements are kind of specific and it’s going to be so much easier, you know. Losing the weight is so much easier, being comfortable in your own surroundings is very important I think and having been in a bunch of games over at the TD Garden, having been there before, everything just seems very, very comfortable so I think that’s a definite advantage.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “What’s your sense in terms of the buzz in the area here? Are people excited about the UFC coming to town for the first time?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “Oh yeah, I mean, it’s unbelievable. As soon as it was announced, even before it was announced, I mean that’s probably the most common question I’ve gotten in my career besides how did you get into this was when is the UFC coming to Boston. It’s finally here. It’s awesome. I know the fans are fired up and it’s going to be amazing. It’s going, you guys are going to hear a loud, loud crowd on Saturday night.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “All right, let’s talk about fighting. I see a man to my right over here, Firas Zahabi. It seems as so ever since you linked up with the Tristar gym in Montreal, something has changed for you and not to say that you weren’t doing great stuff before then but the Guida fight, the Takanori Gomi, I mean just impressive performances. What changed for you in your career after you linked up with these guys?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “You know, it’s not a coincidence, there’s no doubt about it. Firas is at a completely different level I feel as far as trainers go and his approach to the game and methods and he’s inspired a lot of the other coaches and I’ve embraced the boxing style and added in other elements and different training partners I think always helps, going there for the first time and feeling those butterflies of training with great fighters that are there. It’s important to be out of your element, to be… to not be to comfortable for sparring because that’s what you feel during the fight, you’re essentially going against someone you’ve never faced before and it’s made me a much, much better fighter technically, physically, and mentally and I’ve incorporated a lot of those methods and all the coaches are really in and we just upped our game and… I think that’s the main reason for the evolvement I think with my game.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Your elbows have always been one of your most dangerous tools but you mentioned the boxing style. Now after we saw what you did to Gomi, it seems as though your jab can be really be something to use in your advantage especially because a lot of MMA fighters don’t use.”
KENNY FLORIAN: “Yeah, absolutely, you know the jab is one of the most important elements for establishing your range, keeping that distance, and that was a lot of the game plan which revolved around for a guy like Takanori Gomi who throws such wild punches with so much power and you saw a lot of people said, whoa Gomi’s back, well he didn’t go anywhere. He’s the same guy. He was still in shape for my fight, I believe. Was it a different environment for him? Yeah, probably, but I think he was the exact same fighter that he was for the Tyson Griffin. It’s all a matter of styles and I think my reach, my length, and my jab gave him a lot of problems and I think it will give a lot of problems in the future. I have a really long reach for a Lightweight and that’s something that I need to use for all my fights.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Have you evolved since that fight?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “Absolutely, you know, even in that fight against Gomi I had a staph infection going into that fight, a big problem with my knee, the bursa. But you know I was not 100% for that fight and I feel like I’m a different fighter technically since that fight as well, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m a much better fighter since the Gomi fight and I’m excited to go out there and compete and kind of show what I’ve been working on.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Gray Maynard walks into this fight with a bit of a chip on his shoulder because he thinks that he was, you know, overlooked in the title picture because he already beat Frankie Edgar. What kind of a fighter are you expect to see on Saturday?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “It’s going to be a tough fight, there’s no doubt about it. I’m expecting a war. Gray Maynard’s, you know, he’s never going to be an easy fight for anybody and style-wise, I think it’s the toughest fight of my career. He’s huge for a Lightweight. has the best wrestling credentials out of any Lightweight and he’s undefeated and those are all things that have happened for a reason. He trains very hard, he trains with a great camp out of Xtreme Couture so I’m looking forward to it, man, this is the best time in my career I think to face a guy like Gray Maynard.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “A lot of wrestlers these days face criticism because they don’t finish fights. Guys like Jon Fitch, Gray Maynard as well and there’s a lot of pressure on them to stand and trade and to look flashy with knockouts and things like that. Do you think he’s going to stand and trade with you or do you think he’s going to try to take you down?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “You know, he may, he may. I don’t think that would be a great choice, but I mean he could, he could very well stand and trade and bang. he did it with Nate Diaz even though he should have probably taken him down and mixed it up. I think he knows how important this fight is. I think he realizes that obviously with the announcement that he gets a shot at the title so he knows how important this fight is. I think he needs to do what’s going to get him the win and I think that’s closing it on the feet and probably look to take me down later on the round, try to steal the fight.”
ARIEL HELWANI: “Dana White said at the press conference that if Gray Maynard wins, he gets a shot at the title. It seems as though he also said that if you win, you get a shot at the title. A) Is that in fact true and B) I mean, are you surprised a little? Because you’re only two fights removed from losing to BJ Penn and a lot of people would say, well why does he get three shots at the title?”
KENNY FLORIAN: “Well, you know, I think more than anything else, I think it should be about the two best fighters facing each other. That’s what it really should be about. We’re three fights removed, been over a year, maybe by the time the next championship fight is settled it’ll be a year and a half or whatever it is and I think it’s time. It shouldn’t be about, you know, who’s the guy who can talk the best, who’s a different face, who’s a good-looking guy. It shouldn’t be about that. It should be about who the two best fighters are and put them in a cage, let’s see who the champ is, and I think that the four best Lightweights in the world are going to fight on Saturday night, so why shouldn’t the winners face each other?”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I would be shocked if this fight doesn’t go to decision; they seem very evenly matched, but I favor Gray slightly based on his wrestling and overall power.
I disagree and I think that Florian will handle Maynard. I am seeing this ending by submission for Florian before the final bell.
I bet BJ Penn would disagree with this statement.