UFC fighter Kenny Florian hires wrestling coach, aims for early 2011 return
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight contender Kenny ”KenFlo” Florian has hired a wrestling coach and expects to make a return to the UFC in early 2011.
Florian, coming off a unanimous decision loss to Gray “The Bully” Maynard, at UFC 118 is redoubling his efforts to become a more complete fighter.
Prior to the fight, UFC President Dana White indicated that the winner of Florian vs. Maynard would go on to fight for the UFC lightweight championship. Had Florian defeated Maynard he would have been in line for his third shot at the championship belt.
After the defeat in front of Florian’s home town of Boston, he took an analytical approach stating: “Losses are a blessing in disguise. 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.”
Florian expected Maynard to use his wrestling in their fight, but had no answer for the level of skill that Maynard showed; “He’s (Maynard) the best wrestler in the lightweight division and one of the best in the UFC. I need to make sure my game is capable of beating everybody in every aspect and I wasn’t. So, I’ve been doing wrestling every single day.”
Sean Grey, currently the assistant wrestling coach for Boston University, will coach Florian. Grey wrestled collegiately at Virginia Tech where he was a two-time All American. He finished his college career with the Hokies as the school’s all-time leader in wins (133-19), winning percentage (.850), pins (45) and pins in a single season (15).
Florian expects to return to the Octagon in early 2011. He has not heard anything from the UFC about his next fight, but he did have this to say: “I just want to fight a tough guy, a top guy.”
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