Kenny Florian had one heck of a run in the UFC. The Boston native entered the promotion on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter as as an undersized middleweight and walked away as one of the best competitors of the lightweight division in recent years.
Florian has seen it all in the UFC after fighting some of the biggest names in the division but expressed to Fighters.com that he only has one regret from his career.
“If there is one regret, I wish that I came to compete against Diego Sanchez…I feel like I beat myself before anyone else. I feel like I went out there and let the moment beat me. I don’t know what would have happened in that fight, but I didn’t compete; that was not me out there. I went out there and I was a nervous wreck. Before I knew what was happening, I was mounted and bloodied up. I wish that – if there was one thing I could take back – that I could just go out there and compete, and just fight him.”
Still, Florian is proud of what he’s done in the Octagon.
“I really had a great career. Fighting a great guy like Clay Guida, a guy who I looked up to so much like Takanori Gomi was cool. Getting to fight a legend in BJ Penn was awesome; a lot of great moments. Fighting one of the best pound-for-pound guys in the world, Jose Aldo. Those were big moments – wins and losses.”
Only three of Florian’s 20 professional bouts occurred outside the bright lights of the UFC. He competed at middleweight while on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, moved down to welterweight after losing the finale and eventually found a home at 155-pounds.
After losing badly to Penn, Florian dropped to featherweight where he earned a title shot at Aldo at UFC 136. Florian revealed in the interview that his health is progressing, but it looks like UFC 136 will be the last time Florian steps into the Octagon.
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