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[KevoOnTheRadio]

Mixed Martial Arts Blog - ESPN
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Q: If Penn stays, is Florian going to need a transfer?



A: Florian is doing a fine job of crushing potential contenders while not presenting as any real threat to Penn a second time around. If Zuffa's WEC brand is here to stay, why not make Florian one of the marquee stars over there? Florian versus Ben Henderson, Donald Cerrone, or any of a half-dozen 155-pound athletes would be worth his effort and the audience's time until Penn gets bored. (And he will.) As it stands, he's treading water.

This is an excert from Jake Rossen's blog on ESPN.COM. It brings up an interesting point: If B.J. stays in the LW division, it's pretty clear that Ken-Flo won't be holding the title. So why not go to the W.E.C.? There are several match ups there that I find interesting, imagine a Cerrone/Florian fight. He could be a huge star there, up there with Faber, Torres, Aldo. Now I doubt this will happen, but just toss it around for a second and tell me what you think....

[Diegonightmare]

Very unlikely IMO for at least three reasons:

1 - There are growing rumblings that Penn will move up to 170. There's a growing consensus that if he wins his next one or two fights he is going up. If he goes up, Florian will be the lightweight champion. And Kenny knows both of these facts.

2 - The $$ in the WEC isn't comparable to what big-time main-card PPV stars in the UFC make. Kenny has main-evented or co-mained at least 4 cards that I can think of (of which 2 were PPV), and maybe more than that. Dropping from that to appearing in the WEC is something you do when you frankly are on the tail end of your career and cannot hang with the big dogs any more - e.g. Jens Pulver (no disrespect to the warrior Pulver at all).

3 - Kenny is a legit star in the UFC and Zuffa should have no interest in either sending him to the WEC or allowing him to make the move without fighting to keep him in 155 in the UFC. It's a cliche but Kenny finishes fights. He is, IMO, the most exciting UFC lightweight after BJ Penn, by quite some distance. He's a first-season TUFer who is well known to the fans and never, ever puts in a boring fight. Until/unless his career starts to slide (see reason #2), Zuffa would be crazy to want to see him leave their 155 pound division in the UFC.

[TheKidInside]

Rosen is an IDIOT. he talks out of his ass like he's the end all and be all of MMA journalism. Is he G-d? Does he talk about how Ken Flo didn't fight for over a year prior to the BJ fight and he and many of his proponets said that Kenny needs to be constantly fighting in order to be at his top shape. I mean, look he losses to BJ and goes in and destroys Clay Guida, then he submits Gomi...G O M I !!! and how about Joe Daddy? Roger FUCKING HUERTA?!?! JOE LAUZON?

yeah and this guy needs to move down to WEC to make 10k a fight, get no recognition and (most likely) become a champ in the UFC B leagues...what a great thought!!!

[Masscore]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

Very unlikely IMO for at least three reasons:

1 - There are growing rumblings that Penn will move up to 170. There's a growing consensus that if he wins his next one or two fights he is going up. If he goes up, Florian will be the lightweight champion. And Kenny knows both of these facts.

Well I agree with everything else you have said, if Penn moves up to 170 I just do not buy Kenny winning the belt. He has tired twice and both times got dominated. He got completely manhandled by Sherk and the only reason he made it to the 4th with Penn is because Penn let him make it to the 4th. If Penn had wanted to I am sure he could have subbed Kenny in the first. I understand the lovefest for Florian, I really do. He has some great looking wins. But honestly who has beaten? His best win to date is over Stevenson who is showing to be nothing more then a gatekeeper or Gomi who hasn't had it in years.

Pretty much whenever Kenny has fought a top level guy, he has lost and lost badly (Sanchez, Sherk and Penn). He will probably get the chance to make me eat all my words when he fights Maynard. But I honestly think Maynard is going to smash him if he fights smart which will be taking the fight to the ground.

This all being said, he will never ever fight in the WEC.

[TheKidInside]

Originally Posted by Masscore

Well I agree with everything else you have said, if Penn moves up to 170 I just do not buy Kenny winning the belt. He has tired twice and both times got dominated. He got completely manhandled by Sherk and the only reason he made it to the 4th with Penn is because Penn let him make it to the 4th. If Penn had wanted to I am sure he could have subbed Kenny in the first. I understand the lovefest for Florian, I really do. He has some great looking wins. But honestly who has beaten? His best win to date is over Stevenson who is showing to be nothing more then a gatekeeper or Gomi who hasn't had it in years.

Pretty much whenever Kenny has fought a top level guy, he has lost and lost badly (Sanchez, Sherk and Penn). He will probably get the chance to make me eat all my words when he fights Maynard. But I honestly think Maynard is going to smash him if he fights smart which will be taking the fight to the ground.

This all being said, he will never ever fight in the WEC.

you are misrepresnting "facts" to fit your own story. he lost to sanchez when he was very green and not at his natural weight, he started at 185 then 170 and now 155. and he lost to sherk because he was, again, green.

since sherk the only person he lost to was BJ and coming off a long layoff which clearly impacted his game, he didn't have his lateral movment nor his crisp jabs or kicks or straights...

[end it with a left]

i really dont understand why people think bj or anderson should relinquish the belt when they move up a weight class. Unless they are unable to drop back to they're weight class why give up the belt? they're still the best. People shouldnt be awarded belts because the champ gets bored with a weight class they get the belt for putting a hurt on the champ not for being so mediocre that the champ has to move up.

[Diegonightmare]

Much respect Masscore but we disagree on some things.

Originally Posted by Masscore

if Penn moves up to 170 I just do not buy Kenny winning the belt. He has tired twice and both times got dominated.

He got dominated by the best 155-pound fighter in the history of the sport (who in this scenario will no longer be there to hold him back); and by Sean Sherk in a fight that was so long ago in terms of the evolution of Florian's skills that it might as well have been 2003. Kenny is a MUCH better fighter now than then. Smarter, more patient, more well rounded. Better striking, better BJJ, more aggressive and yet also more patient when it's required. If that rematch happens, I like Kenny.

Originally Posted by Masscore

I understand the lovefest for Florian, I really do. He has some great looking wins. But honestly who has beaten? His best win to date is over Stevenson who is showing to be nothing more then a gatekeeper or Gomi who hasn't had it in years.

He dominated and finished Guida in 2 rounds; Florian and Huerta are the only guys in the UFC to finish Clay Guida. Much as I don't like his lay-pray style, the dude is ridiculously tough to dispatch.

But, I'll grant you, Florian hasn't faced too many of the very top tier in the UFC, and the two biggest fights he's had, he's lost.

Originally Posted by Masscore

Pretty much whenever Kenny has fought a top level guy, he has lost and lost badly (Sanchez)

That fight was at 185 pounds and if what I said above about Kenny's evolution since UFC 64 was accurate, how much more has he evolved since this fight

Originally Posted by Masscore

He will probably get the chance to make me eat all my words when he fights Maynard. But I honestly think Maynard is going to smash him if he fights smart which will be taking the fight to the ground.

He will get the chance, for sure. Whether he succeeds, we'll find out. If Maynard beats Florian it'll be by decision, and not a dominant one. Florian will get openings on the feet and on the ground. I was in OKC watching UFN 19 live and watched a seriously rusty Roger Huerta give Gray Maynard all he wanted. Florian dominated Huerta and is a better fighter now than when he fought him, while I don't see Maynard's game evolving nearly as fast.

I don't have any particular hard-on for Florian. He's not exactly a favorite fighter, but he's someone that I respect very much and love to watch fight, because I think he perfectly embodies the spirit of MMA. When we fans discuss fighters that never have boring fights - Florian is way up there.

[Trojan Fight Club]

Originally Posted by Masscore

But I honestly think Maynard is going to smash him if he fights smart which will be taking the fight to the ground.

This all being said, he will never ever fight in the WEC.

False, Maynard has zero chance against Florian.

[lwbrewer]

If the UFC wanted him to move down he most likely would, but his pay may appear to be lower he would get bonus's not listed to meet or exceed what he's getting know. If Faber loses his appeal I could see it to help mainstream WEC. Will it happend I dought it but never know. Kenny is a good spokes person for Zuffa

[fishy]

Originally Posted by Masscore

Pretty much whenever Kenny has fought a top level guy, he has lost and lost badly (Sanchez, Sherk and Penn). He will probably get the chance to make me eat all my words when he fights Maynard. But I honestly think Maynard is going to smash him if he fights smart which will be taking the fight to the ground.

I don't really know why you think Maynard will smash him. Even his wrestling won't be an advantage in that fight. Sure Florian hasn't beaten too many top tier fighters but he's shown he's far and above the competition he has beat. He's very under-rated right now and in time will prove that he's amongst the best at lw.

I'll say this now, Maynard has absolutely nothing to offer Kenny. His biggest threat is his wrestling and even if he does manage to put Kenny on his back, he will get his head split open as we have seen Kenny do many times, especially because Maynard is not really that active while he's on top. Kenny will beat him anywhere the fight goes.