By Chris Howie

Since losing to Sean Sherk in a UFC Lightweight Title fight in October 2006, Kenny Florian (9-3-0) has reeled off four straight victories and has finished all four of those opponents. Now Florian will face his toughest test yet since that title fight in October 2006, when he squares off against Roger "El Matador" Huerta (20-1-1) this Saturday at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy from Minneapolis, MN.

Coming into the fight Florian has had one of his best training camps to date and feels the aspects of his game he worked on will be the difference when him and Huerta meet in the cage "Training went excellent and I couldn't have asked for a better camp" stated The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finalist, "We worked on different things to be able to match up with Roger such as strength and conditioning so that I will be able to push the pace against him and get him tired in this fight."

With Huerta's wrestling background being one of his strong points, Florian went to the Harvard University Wrestling Coaches to help him hone his game, "Working with the Harvard coaches, I was able to take my wrestling game to a whole new level."

Although Huerta does have 10 more fights than Florian, "Kenflo" feels as though the experience factor will not have any effect on this fight, and that overall, he is the better fight "I may have more fights in the Octagon but he has more overall. I do not feel like this will have any play in the fight. I truly feel like everything that I do is a little better than Roger. I'm a more technical fighter and in the end that could be the difference."

A fixture in the UFC since being cast on The Ultimate Fighter's debut season, Florian has been around long enough to know what it takes to go places within the confines of the UFC, something he feels Roger Huerta needs to learn about before making comments about contracts and such within the company "I can't speak for Roger but I can speak for myself and the UFC has always treated me very well. It's been like any other job where you have to work your way up to get to the top. You start at the bottom just like everybody else and sometimes that can be difficult. I think it is only going to get better for the fighters and big things will be happening soon"

Although it is not confirmed that the winner of this fight will get a shot at BJ Penn for the lightweight title, rumors have circulated that Huerta or Florian will get a crack at Penn's crown later down the road, "Nothing is confirmed right now especially with BJ wanting to fight at welterweight. It's like the old saying in boxing goes 'The fight will happen when you see the two people in the ring'. You never what could happen but right now I am focused on Roger and if I do win than I will have a tough opponent waiting for me. I know at some point I will fight the champion and that is what is important to me."

Pegged as what could possibly be a fight of the year candidate the Florian/Huerta showdown has fireworks written all over it but Florian predicts it could be a quick one "I expect to stop Roger sometime in the first or second round. I think Roger is going to find out that although he is getting better he still has a lot to improve on. He is still young. I have a lot to improve on myself, but I feel at this point in our careers by skill set is much better."


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