In his quest for the UFC featherweight title, Kenny Florian was not aggressive enough in his loss to Jose Aldo.
Florian dropped to 14-6 with the loss, his first defeat while registering a takedown. Florian was absorbing brutal leg kicks from Aldo all fight long and ate a couple vicious punches to the face. He actually landed more kicks than Aldo, but the power behind Aldo’s strikes was obviously much greater.
I think Florian didn’t do himself any favors in the final round, when he was clearly losing on points. Florian should have went all out, laying everything he had out on the octagon. Instead, he was content with trying to smother Aldo and just make it until the final bell.
Now, obviously it’s easy for me to sit behind a computer screen and say that Florian should have done this or that. After all, I wasn’t the one in the octagon getting my leg crushed by the notoriously brutal leg kicks of Aldo.
But at 35 years of age, Florian won’t have many more opportunities at a title. This was his best shot at capturing his dream, yet he didn’t go all out in the fifth and final round.
Florian fought very well in the first round, which I believe he clearly won. But his aggressiveness tapered off throughout the fight and was eventually the deciding factor in his loss.