Kenneth Alan Florian was born on May 26,1976 and is an American retired mixed martial artist and commentator who formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
57 Facts About Kenny Florian
2.
Kenny Florian is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League as a commentator.
3.
Kenny Florian has a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.
4.
Kenny Florian is known for his cerebral approach to the sport based on his meticulous game plans.
5.
Kenny Florian is recognized for his tendency to finish his opponents, having earned stoppages in twelve of his fourteen career victories.
6.
Kenny Florian is one of only two fighters in history to compete in four different weight classes in the UFC: Middleweight, Welterweight, Lightweight and Featherweight, the other being Diego Sanchez.
7.
Kenny Florian defeated Chris Leben on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, but succumbed in the finale against Diego Sanchez.
8.
Kenny Florian is one of six children born to Peruvian parents: Agustin, a thoracic surgeon, and Ines Kenny Florian; however, none of his grandparents are from Peru, his ancestry includes: Spanish, Italian, German, French and Armenian.
9.
Kenny Florian was born in Westwood, Massachusetts and grew up in neighboring Dover, Massachusetts where he was a standout soccer player for Dover-Sherborn Regional High School.
10.
Kenny Florian attended Boston College where he played for the varsity soccer team.
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Kenny Florian holds dual citizenship in the United States and Peru.
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Kenny Florian worked as a translator, reworking financial documents into various foreign languages and planned on doing that for a few years before applying to law school.
13.
Kenny Florian is known for his elbow strikes, which Joe Rogan describes as "razor sharp".
14.
Kenny Florian made his MMA debut in January 2003 at Mass Destruction 10, defeating Jason Giroux via TKO 3:23 into the first round.
15.
Kenny Florian went on to compete on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter as a middleweight.
16.
Kenny Florian made it to the finals by beating Chris Leben via cut stoppage, before losing at the finale in the first round to Diego Sanchez due to strikes.
17.
Kenny Florian famously danced and cheered immediately after the strike landed and the cut opened up.
18.
Kenny Florian earned a title shot after defeating Canadian TKO Major League MMA Lightweight champion Sam Stout at The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale; Kenny Florian won in the first round by rear naked choke.
19.
On October 14,2006, Kenny Florian fought Sean Sherk for the UFC Lightweight championship title at UFC 64: Unstoppable and lost via unanimous decision.
20.
Kenny Florian managed to break free of an excruciating knee-bar attempt made by Mishima late in the fight.
21.
Kenny Florian tripped Robinson to the mat before moving to side-control.
22.
Kenny Florian then transitioned into mount before pounding away until Robinson tapped due to strikes.
23.
The first round went back and forth as Kenny Florian landed a vicious body kick and Lauzon looked for knee bars and heel hooks.
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Kenny Florian finished the round with some hard shots to Joe's head.
25.
Kenny Florian opened the 2nd round with a takedown and rained down punches on Lauzon from the mount position.
26.
Lauzon attempted another heel hook but Kenny Florian continued to strike which resulted in Herb Dean stopping the fight.
27.
At UFC 87 on August 9,2008 Kenny Florian defeated Roger Huerta by unanimous decision.
28.
At UFC 91 on November 15,2008, Kenny Florian defeated Joe Stevenson by rear naked choke submission in the first round.
29.
Kenny Florian executed a takedown before mounting Stevenson and transitioning to a position to finish him with the choke.
30.
Penn eventually took his back and locked up a rear naked choke, submitting Kenny Florian and defending his title.
31.
Kenny Florian was visibly crying as he left the octagon after his loss to Penn.
32.
Kenny Florian fought Clay Guida on December 12,2009 at UFC 107.
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Kenny Florian followed up with a short flurry and finished the fight via rear naked choke at 2:19.
34.
Kenny Florian has expressed interest in getting a rematch with Diego Sanchez.
35.
Kenny Florian defeated former Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi at UFC Fight Night 21 via rear naked choke in the third round.
36.
Kenny Florian won the first two rounds decisively with superior striking, utilizing multiple jabs.
37.
Kenny Florian eventually took Gomi down in the third round and submitted him shortly after.
38.
Kenny Florian suffered a staph infection in his knee just weeks after his win over Gomi and was admitted to hospital for minor surgery.
39.
Kenny Florian faced Gray Maynard on August 28,2010 at UFC 118.
40.
Kenny Florian was expected to face Evan Dunham at UFC 126, but the bout was then expected to headline UFC Fight Night 23 on January 22,2011.
41.
However, Kenny Florian had to pull out of the bout due to knee injury on December 6,2010.
42.
On February 7,2011 it was announced that Kenny Florian would be moving down to featherweight.
43.
Kenny Florian made his Featherweight debut with a unanimous decision victory over Diego Nunes on June 11,2011 at UFC 131, with the judges' scorecards being.
44.
Kenny Florian was given the title shot against Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship on October 8,2011 at UFC 136 and was defeated by unanimous decision.
45.
Kenny Florian then went on to say that he would be making a return to the UFC's lightweight division, but would not fight for at least 6 months so that he can rebuild his body to compete in the higher weight class.
46.
Kenny Florian has dealt with back problems throughout his career, but suffered a new injury in November 2011 while lifting weights.
47.
On May 31,2012, Kenny Florian announced his retirement during Ultimate Fighter: Live Finale weigh-ins show.
48.
Kenny Florian co-hosted MMA Live, alongside Franklin McNeil and others, for ESPN.
49.
Kenny Florian contributed to the show with his MMA experience and perspective as a fighter.
50.
On June 7,2009, Kenny Florian would fill in for Frank Mir, whose wife gave birth two days later, as color commentator for WEC 41.
51.
Kenny Florian provided color commentary for WEC 49 and the TUF 11 Finale.
52.
Kenny Florian took Joe Rogan's place as commentator for UFC 134.
53.
Kenny Florian was briefly suspended by Fox Sports on January 16,2016 for plagiarism in his preview of UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs Cruz.
54.
In 2015, Kenny Florian was named as the color commentator for ABC's revival of the robot combat series BattleBots, joined by Fox Sports personality Chris Rose on play-by-play.
55.
Kenny Florian continued his role on the revival's third season, which moved to Science Channel.
56.
In March 2021, Kenny Florian revealed that he had signed an exclusive deal with the Professional Fighters League as a commentator.
57.
On June 10,2010, Keith and Kenny Florian received their second degree on their black belt from Prof.