"I'm in this sport because I want to get right back into a title shot and I'm not going to do that fighting no-names. I wanted to make sure I was going to be fighting top guys so that I can get right back in the title picture. I want to continue to do that until that happens. You know, to me, I'm at the point in my career where I want to fight the best and be motivated and that motivation will come from fighting good guys. It's not going to come from just fighting anybodyÂ… I just want to face the top guys. I would just love to face one of the top guys hopefully in March; maybe on the New Jersey show. Maybe we can do it in New Jersey and get one in before the UFC comes to Boston. Hopefully I can get one in March. That way I can stay on pace for every 3 or 4 months. I want to stay active man," stated UFC lightweight contender Kenny Florian as he talked about his future plans after his dominant win over Clay Guida at UFC 107. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on your impressive win over Clay Guida at UFC 107. How do you feel?
KF: I feel good man. I actually just had an opportunity to see the fight not too long ago and it was pretty good. I felt it was a slow start for sure in the beginning, but I found my range at some point in the middle of the first round and was slowly able to impose my will and I think it went downhill for Guida after that.
PC: I was surprised that you were not only able to hold your own against him in the wrestling department, but actually outwrestle him at times in the fight. Was that something you felt that you may be able to do going into that fight?
KF: I knew I had the potential to outwrestle him and I think I proved that. Guida is a very good wrestler, but I have been working very hard on my wrestling. I still have a lot more work to do, but I was able to show that I am getting better in that area and hopefully people start seeing that as a threat in future fights as well.
PC: I know you felt it was imperative for you to jump right back in the Octagon, after the loss to BJ, and also face a top tier opponent. How important was it for you to face a guy of Guida's caliber instead of an ordinary opponent?
KF: I'm in this sport because I want to get right back into a title shot and I'm not going to do that fighting no-names. I wanted to make sure I was going to be fighting top guys so that I can get right back in the title picture. I want to continue to do that until that happens. You know, to me, I'm at the point in my career where I want to fight the best and be motivated and that motivation will come from fighting good guys. It's not going to come from just fighting anybody.
PC: At a certain point in every fighter's career, I think change is a good thing. You recently parted ways with Mark DellaGrotte to train with Firas Zahabi. What was the biggest difference strategically training with Firas as opposed to training with Mark?
KF: Firas Zahabi is an absolute scientist. With Mark, he didn't do a lot of strategy. He's not really a strategy guy necessarily. He's more of a technique guy. Firas Zahabi is a technique guy and he's a scientist; he's Mr. Do It All. He is one of the smartest human beings that you will ever come across. Not just for mixed martial arts, but for anything. The guy is justÂ…he can very well be a genius man (laughing). Whatever subject that it is, he's knows about it. It's very impressive and very scientific in his approach to the fight game. I have never seen someone work as hard as he does. As a coach, he is just a tireless worker.
PC: This may be a question better posed for Firas, but was it a little strange for you to look across the cage and fight a guy with Greg Jackson in his corner?
KF: No, not necessarily. I haven't trained with Greg before, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for the guy. Whatever weird feelings there may have been were probably between him and Firas. I know they are good friends. It was one of those things that they had to go through for business reasons, but they are good friends and it was tough going out there and fighting a tough opponent like Clay.
PC: We saw the return of the razor sharp elbows. I don't think it was a case of you so much not using them anymore, but more of guys being aware of them. Was that something that you worked on for this camp, to bring those elbows back into play?
KF: Yeah, definitely man, especially in tight. People kind of forgot about them a little bit. I definitely wanted to throw those back in the mix and have them worried. If you're going to come at me, I want you worried about a bunch of different things and you gotta be able to make people respect the elbows. If you're in tight, they are always an option. I wanted to keep Clay aware of those and I ended up catching him pretty good in the first round.
PC: The ending of the fight was set up with a nice one-two combo. You caught him with the left first and then a short right hand floored him. Watching Clay's fights, he typically comes a little wild and wide. Were you working on shortening your punches for this fight?
KF: Definitely man. Peter Welch was making sure my feet were right for this fight and the counters were huge. I was kind of setting him up, stepping back to time my rhythm and saw when he was attacking and then released that combination, which we have been working on. I've been working on that with Firas Zahabi as well. I was really working on throwing punches in tight and that was the key for this fight, to really sharpen my boxing up. I noticed in the 1st round my elbows weren't as tight as they should have been. It was definitely a vast improvement of what we've seen in the past from me and I tell you what, we're only scratching the surface. We're working on some good things and my boxing, my overall standup and my game is only going to get better.
PC: He didn't seem to fight the choke much as you were applying it. Do you think the right hand had already pretty much put him out?
KF: Yeah, definitely. When I grabbed his body, he still felt a little limp. I think he actually started reacting once I grabbed him because he was pretty much out from the shot. Those 2 shots landed very cleanly and the finishing shot was probably the shot on the jaw; that little right hook. The right hook was the finisher and the rear naked choke just put an exclamation point on it.
PC: I'm sure you want to come back with another tough opponent. How soon would you like to come back?
KF: I don't know who. I just want to face the top guys. I would just love to face one of the top guys hopefully in March; maybe on the New Jersey show. Maybe we can do it in New Jersey and get one in before the UFC comes to Boston. Hopefully I can get one in March. That way I can stay on pace for every 3 or 4 months. I want to stay active man. I think that's when I am at my best and I just want it to be against someone tough.
PC: That is a big deal for you that the UFC got legislation in Massachusetts. I'm sure you want to be a part of that card?
KF: It's huge and I'm very excited. It was great to be a part of it. The UFC was instrumental obviously in getting the legislation passed here in Massachusetts. All of the credit goes to them in educating the policy makers and the UFC is so good about doing that stuff. It's amazing and it will be a dream come true to be able to fight here in Massachusetts and it's a huge step forward for the sport, for the fighters and for the fans.
PC: When you lost to Sean Sherk, you took a lot away from that fight and you came back a better fighter because of it. What did you take away from the Penn loss and do you feel the Guida fight was the first step towards an even better Kenny Florian?
KF: Absolutely it was a step towards a better Kenny Florian. I learned a lot from that BJ Penn fight. There were so many things that I did wrong preparing for BJ and fighting BJ; a lot of things in my preparation and in the way that I executed certain things out there. Now that I have Firas Zahabi here, along with my boxing coach Peter Welch and my brother Keith and also the resources that I have for wrestling in Canada, I know that the sky is the limit and I'm going to be a much better fighter. I will improve in all aspects of the game and we're just scratching the surface over here.
PC: BJ Penn is of course the grand prize to your final goal and that is to get another crack at the title. I have never been more impressed with him than I was on Saturday night. What did you take away from Penn's performance?
KF: BJ looked phenomenal against Diego. You could see that Diego just didn't have the arsenal and he was completely outmatched. BJ Penn proved to be the best 155 pounder in the world Saturday night. It was a great performance by him, but at the same time, you can't take anything away from Diego. He was definitely overmatched, but he showed the heart of a champion. He's got heart for days and never showed any quit in him. That was impressive.
PC: Again, you put on a very impressive performance. I wish you the best of luck in the New Year. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
KF: It's always good to talk to you Percy. I want to thank all of the fans out here in Boston for their support. I want to thank my sponsors: TapouT, MusclePharm, Cape Cargo, www.mmawarehouse.com and Florian Martial Arts Center. I also have to thank all of my trainers: Keith Florian, Firas Zahabi, Peter Welch, Jonathan Chamberg and John.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]