Former UFC lightweight and featherweight contender Kenny Florian may be looking at the end of his career as a fighter due to a previously reported back injury which he suffered following UFC 136.
Florian aggravated a back injury while doing some weight training and revealed at the post fight show on FUEL TV for UFC 142 that he is suffering from a herniated disc, which is causing him pain and numbness down his legs.
Florian is working as an analyst for FUEL TV for such shows as “UFC Tonight” and will likely participate in other pre-fight and post fight shows for the FOX network.
MMAWeekly.com has the quote from Florian on his injury.
“First of all, I’ve had a back injury for a little bit and after the (Jose) Aldo fight I was getting back to training, I was doing some Olympic lifting, hurt my back, of course on the last rep, last set, and I knew it was bad,”
“It was a herniated disc in my back and it’s just been causing a lot of problems. Lower back, and it’s been everything from tingling and numbness in both my legs, so I’m hoping it’s going to heal up and I can get back to the fight game, but we’ll see what happens,” Florian stated
Like fighters such as Tito Ortiz and Shane Carwin, who have both suffered numerous back problems, and both of whom have undergone surgery for their problems, Florian does not want to take that route.
In my opinion, it’s a temporary fix that will keep him fighting in the cage but will only hurt him in the long run. We’ve seen both Ortiz and Carwin go under the knife several times, with neither fighter really reaching their former abilities as a fighter.