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[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

Kenny Florian hires wrestling coach, plans to return in early 2011
by James Kimball on Sep 8, 2010

"It looks like my training team wants me to fight in another five months. I'm more motivated than ever. I'm pissed, to be honest. I want to crush my training. That's what I'm focused on right now. I just hired the assistant wrestling coach at Boston University (Sean Gray) to be my wrestling coach here in Boston and I have other plans for a lot of other things as far as training goes... Losses are blessings in disguise I've never been more motivated in my life. I kind of feel like this was one of the most frustrating losses that I've ever had and it was a fight I definitely learned a lot from. I'm very motivated and I had to come back to training quickly. I've already started training and did a hard conditioning session (Tuesday). I'm just motivated to work very hard and get right back into it... I need to make sure my game is capable of beating everybody in every aspect and it wasn't. So, I've been doing wrestling every single day. I've been watching wrestling and researching wrestling every single day."

Coming off a tough defeat at the hands, and takedowns, of Gray Maynard at UFC 118, Kenny Florian told Bruce Buffer on his Sherdog radio show that he is remotivated and ready to overhaul his game to become a more all-around fighter. "The Bully" used his superior wrestling to outpoint Florian en route to a unanimous decision and earn himself a title shot against Frankie Edgar. The first step in this rebirth is the hiring of a wrestling coach to help him better prepare for the top wrestlers in the 155-pound division. Anybody think this move will finally put Kenny over the top? Who do you think would be a good match up for him when he returns to the Octagon this winter?

UFC Quick Quote: Kenny Florian hires wrestling coach, plans to return in early 2011 - MMA Mania

I'm not so sure it's Kenny's wrestling that's the problem, or if it's his that he's unable to work his jits game off his back as good as he should be and maybe he just needs to work moreso on sweeps and a better guard, but endgame, this can't be anything but a good thing here.

[dbader08]

So his wrestling Coach's name is Sean Gray...isn't that somewhat ironic lol

[IceCold48]

Originally Posted by Fedorlei Gomipierre

I'm not so sure it's Kenny's wrestling that's the problem, or if it's his that he's unable to work his jits game off his back as good as he should be and maybe he just needs to work moreso on sweeps and a better guard, but endgame, this can't be anything but a good thing here.

i love kenny and hes constant desire and work ethic but i kind of agree with you here.

his wrestling isn't great but he was fighting the whole fight more or less afraid to engage because of the takedown so he obviously knew wrestling would be an issue in that fight.

basically he lost because he had a horrible strategy. i really have no idea what it was strike cautiously to try and squeak out a decision? i dont get it.

he shouldve pulled guard instead of getting into that same trap everyone else does against gray which is getting takedown against the cage late and him stealing the round. he was close to subbing him at the end so i do think he couldve pulled it off.

[cnlclink]

Originally Posted by dbader08

So his wrestling Coach's name is Sean Gray...isn't that somewhat ironic lol

Hahahahah, nice catch, I thought the name looked odd but couldn't put it together right away, repped!

Maybe he needs to go train with Sherk or Gray even, you know someone that has MMA style wrestling. Go train with Sonnen, it did wonders for Okami didn't it?

Not a huge fan of Kenny but I would like to see him not get run over by wrestlers. At least he's not whining and crying about it (Hardy) and doing something about it.

[sonofsteven]

Better bjj and MUCH better TDD to avoid being in that situation in the first place.

[Masscore]

Originally Posted by dbader08

So his wrestling Coach's name is Sean Gray...isn't that somewhat ironic lol

Didn't really notice that at first lol.

But Sean Gray is a great wrestling coach to have. The guy is pretty legit and was pretty high on the Olympic ladder a few years ago. I have met him a few times and he is pretty chill and knows his shit so he should be able to help Kenny out.

But you would think he would do this before his fight with Maynard...

[Luc1an]

Originally Posted by Masscore

Didn't really notice that at first lol.

But Sean Gray is a great wrestling coach to have. The guy is pretty legit and was pretty high on the Olympic ladder a few years ago. I have met him a few times and he is pretty chill and knows his shit so he should be able to help Kenny out.

But you would think he would do this before his fight with Maynard...

agreed... shoulda done this 5 months ago. I mean sure it will help tremedously and he does need work on his wrestling and TDD but watch he'll start concentrating on nothing but his wrestling and get KTFOd in his next fight =(

[pantomime horse]

I agree with those who say it's not his wrestling. It is his lack of offense off of his back. Kenny isn't in the Matrix. He can't just download this in minutes, let alone 4-6 months.

Want to see a fighter with dangerous jiu-jitsu? Look up George Sotiropoulos. Kenny has a better shot at learning new jiu-jitsu skills in that time than wrestling.

[Masscore]

Originally Posted by pantomime horse

I agree with those who say it's not his wrestling. It is his lack of offense off of his back. Kenny isn't in the Matrix. He can't just download this in minutes, let alone 4-6 months.

Want to see a fighter with dangerous jiu-jitsu? Look up George Sotiropoulos. Kenny has a better shot at learning new jiu-jitsu skills in that time than wrestling.

I disagree because Kenny has shown good takedowns in the past and good take down defense. He has taken down the likes of Guida and Huerta which is no small task.

One thing Kenny has never shown is that he is a killer off his back. So I think he has a much better chance of upping his wrestling game which is already decent against non-elite wrestlers then he does of suddenly becoming a monster off his back.

[mmawolverine]

should have done his before the maynard fight, at this point his next opponent might have other advantages over him, i was looking forward to the ground battle between florian and sotiropolis but thats not going to happen so who is there for florian to fight besides bj and tyson, didnt uriyah say he wanted to move up to 155 real soon