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UFC lightweight Kenny Florian didn't take kindly to UFC President Dana White's criticisms of his performance at UFC 118 this past weekend. Losing to Gray Maynard by decision by being muscled around and outworked through three rounds, Florian lost out on a third shot at the UFC Lightweight Title, and White went so far as to say Florian "chokes" in the big fights.
Florian disagrees. Talking to hometown publication The Boston Herald, Florian responded to White's post-event comments.
"I don’t think that really makes any sense,” Florian said. “For me, it’s someone who is just looking at the big picture and not looking at the actual fight game. It’s someone who isn’t actually that familiar with the full technique of the game. I didn’t crumble. I was outwrestled. Gray fought a smarter fight. That was it."
Moreover, Florian vehemently disagreed with the notion that he has a mental block in certain fights and that he didn't let go in his striking in the Maynard bout.
"I didn’t freeze at all. I felt fine. I felt relaxed,” Florian said. “The guy was a better wrestler than me, that’s it. He controlled me very well on the ground, he pinned me up against the fence. I don’t understand where this mental block is coming from.”
"Every fight in the UFC is big. I’ve been in several main events for the UFC, which I’ve won. It’s easy to ignore the good and highlight the bad. I think, looking at the big picture, it doesn’t make sense. You have to look at the technical fight game, and I’m not sure Dana does that all the time.”
With the loss to Maynard knocking him out of title contention, Florian now needs to consider where his future lies in the sport. Already expanding his visibility as an analyst on ESPN2's MMA Live and occasional commentating spots in the UFC and WEC, Florian says he just needs to make fighting worth it for himself.
"I don’t want to just be another fighter,” Florian said. “If I’m going to continue doing this like this, I have to try to be the best. It just comes down to how much longer I can do this, how much of an investment I can put into this without losing money for every fight. I need to make sure the juice is worth the squeeze."
Penick's Analysis: I still somewhat agree with White's assessment, because whether Kenny thinks so or not, he has clearly fought differently in certain fights than he has in others. And heading into that third round against Maynard, he needed to be in desperation mode looking for a finish, because he was clearly behind. Not doing so and fighting a tentative third round was inexcusable for him in that spot. I hope he finds a way to rebound, as I've been an unapologetic Kenny Florian fan, and I still think he can contend with and beat most fighters in the lightweight division. Hopefully he can put another run together here as he's still only 34 years old.
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