Issue 081
November 2011
I could spend five lifetimes getting better at this sport. There’s just so much to learn. It’s all about how long you can keep up with the continuing evolution of MMA. It’s the ultimate test. It’s Darwinism at its best and most brutal.
Kenny Florian
UFC featherweight contender
The drive I have frightens me in some ways. But I am extremely passionate about the sport. I love it. It’s in all of our best interests to push ourselves to our absolute limits. If we find something that we love, something that we’re passionate about, then it’s a waste if we don’t pursue it.
If we’re not doing that then we’re just taking up space. We need to go out and push ourselves and make the most out of our lives every single day, because you never know when it’s going to be your last. There’s something to be said for making yourself comfortable with the uncomfortable, and that’s something I try to do.
When I was a contestant on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, I fought at middleweight because it was the only thing that was available. They knew I wasn’t a middleweight, I knew I wasn’t a middleweight, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
But there’s no way I would be able to compete today against a high-level 185lb fighter, it’s just not going to happen. Today you need every edge you can get as far as weight classes go. The sport is so refined now. You get guys who are extremely strong, extremely conditioned and you really need to be at the highest level of the sport, and that means going to the proper weight class.
Sometimes, to be honest, it’s trial and error. You need to think, ‘Okay, this guy’s a middleweight, this guy’s a welterweight, this guy’s a lightweight,’ and make the right adjustments.
Every fight you have must be a learning experience. You see where you need to go with your training, what deficiencies you have in each fight. It’s about evolving and constantly getting better. You need to be honest with yourself and so do your coaches. You can’t tackle everything at the same time. You’ve got to address your weaknesses first and move forward accordingly. You need to be constantly taking your game to the next level because there’s always going to be weaknesses.
In combat, the truth always comes out. With Fedor, maybe he got away with it for a little bit. He was probably ahead of the curve for a little while, but there came the point when he just didn’t look sharp. Even when he knocked out Andrei Arlovski, you started to see the chinks in the armor. I don’t want to say he got lucky in that fight, but he hasn’t made the right changes.
If I go back and look at one of my fights and I’m getting hit with a hook, it is unacceptable to me. If I get lazy with my hands or I’m moving to the wrong side then I have to change that. Period.
It’s as much of a discipline controlling your diet as the fighting itself. People don’t realize how strict you have to be with your nutrition. For my last fight I was walking around at 186lb, and I had to go down to 146. At 168lb I was measured at 9.2% body fat.
Making the cut was a very difficult thing to do, but there was nothing that was going to stop me from making that weight. I was prepared to suffer and I was prepared not to be 100% on fight night. I knew that the s**t may hit the fan and I was ready for that.
You realize what you’re physically capable of doing when you go through something like I did, and that takes you to a different mental level. It’s like whenever you see or do something extremely difficult in your life, it makes the other stuff seem a little easier.
It’s definitely an advantage being one of the taller, longer fighters in the featherweight division and I’ve fought some of the best fighters in the sport at the 155lb weight class; from BJ Penn to Gray Maynard. I’ve fought champions and that gives me a certain confidence going in against any featherweight. Now, when I see some of the other 155lb guys walking around, I think, ‘Man, how did I fight against these guys? They’re huge!’
