Kenny Florian responds to plagiarism accusations, apologizes for ‘oversight’ in not crediting source material

It hasn’t been a good Friday for retired Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Kenny Florian.

The analyst for FOX Sports posted an article on Monday entitled “Welcome to the future: Kenny Florian breaks down Dillashaw vs. Cruz” with what appeared to be an expert level analysis of Sunday’s feature main event.

But then on Thursday all hell broke loose when a one Lee Wylie discovered that the analysis had stolen huge parts from a video he’d made back in December that looked at former boxer Willie Pep.

Accusations that Florian had ostensibly plagiarized his entire article from Wylie soon made the rounds of the mixed martial arts community, forcing a quick reaction from FOX Sports.

Appearing above the story now reads an “editor’s note”:

Language in this breakdown borrows from written material in a video of an in-depth look at the defensive boxing prowess of Willie Pep by TheFightCity.com boxing analyst Lee Wylie. The original version of this story did not contain this credit. We regret the oversight.

I’m not sure what it means to “borrow” material from somebody else without attribution. I mean, I thought that was the textbook definition of plagiarism, but apparently not.

For his part, Kenny Florian was adamant it’s all a big misunderstanding:

pic.twitter.com/7We1Hq0MHn

— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) January 15, 2016

The only person who should be upset & rightfully so is @LeeWylie1 who I’ve explained the situation to. Will explain on @AnikFlorianPod Tues

— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) January 15, 2016

One could make the argument that it’s understandable more people than Lee Wylie could be upset about a paid analyst lifting the working of others without attribution or even private acknowledgement, but one could also argue that mistakes happen.

Unfortunately, Florian biggest mistake was in trying to dismiss this as an oversight. And that might be due to the fact he’s a fighter and not a real member of the media.

This is the sort of thing that keeps journalists awake at night, or if they fall asleep the stuff of nightmares. Being accused of lifting somebody’s work without proper attribution can be grounds for dismissal and permanent disgrace in the industry. Just ask Jayson Blair.

As for Lee Wylie, he seems to forgive Florian:

Show me someone who hasn’t made a mistake, and I’ll show you a liar. It’s not the end of the world. https://t.co/q1tItgwUaI

— Lee John Wylie (@LeeWylie1) January 15, 2016

Well, there you have it. How do you think this was handled by all parties involved?

It hasn’t been a good Friday for retired Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Kenny Florian.

The analyst for FOX Sports posted an article on Monday entitled “Welcome to the future: Kenny Florian breaks down Dillashaw vs. Cruz” with what appeared to be an expert level analysis of Sunday’s feature main event.

But then on Thursday all hell broke loose when a one Lee Wylie discovered that the analysis had stolen huge parts from a video he’d made back in December that looked at former boxer Willie Pep.

Accusations that Florian had ostensibly plagiarized his entire article from Wylie soon made the rounds of the mixed martial arts community, forcing a quick reaction from FOX Sports.

Appearing above the story now reads an “editor’s note”:

Language in this breakdown borrows from written material in a video of an in-depth look at the defensive boxing prowess of Willie Pep by TheFightCity.com boxing analyst Lee Wylie. The original version of this story did not contain this credit. We regret the oversight.

I’m not sure what it means to “borrow” material from somebody else without attribution. I mean, I thought that was the textbook definition of plagiarism, but apparently not.

For his part, Kenny Florian was adamant it’s all a big misunderstanding:

One could make the argument that it’s understandable more people than Lee Wylie could be upset about a paid analyst lifting the working of others without attribution or even private acknowledgement, but one could also argue that mistakes happen.

Unfortunately, Florian biggest mistake was in trying to dismiss this as an oversight. And that might be due to the fact he’s a fighter and not a real member of the media.

This is the sort of thing that keeps journalists awake at night, or if they fall asleep the stuff of nightmares. Being accused of lifting somebody’s work without proper attribution can be grounds for dismissal and permanent disgrace in the industry. Just ask Jayson Blair.

As for Lee Wylie, he seems to forgive Florian:

Well, there you have it. How do you think this was handled by all parties involved?