One of the most extreme weight cutters in MMA, ‘K-Flo’ talks shedding the pounds, dark days and being reborn.

Q: So Kenny, you look at little different now at 145lb than when you appeared on The Ultimate Fighter six years ago. How much did you weigh back then?

Kenny: “Ha ha, yeah. Just a little. I fought at 185lb. The heaviest I got to was 178lb. I was soft at that point though. I knew nothing about nutrition. I wasn’t eating well. I wasn’t training like a mixed martial artist. I was dabbling in Muay Thai and I didn’t really wrestle. I was pretty much a jiu-jitsu guy and that was it.

I thought, ‘Hey, if I wanna do this I gotta start training like a mixed martial artist.’ I just loved jiu-jitsu and wanted to do that more than anything else.”

Q: When did you start training jiu-jitsu?

A: “I started training jiu-jitsu in late ‘97. I saw the first UFC and was inspired by the skinny Brazilian Royce Gracie. He was my new idol and I just wanted to replicate what he was doing.

Ever since my first Royce Gracie seminar I never looked back.

Keith (Kenny’s brother and cornerman) and I trained every single day in my parents’ basement on rugs and on top of cement.

Eventually we found out about a school that did a jiu-jitsu tournament so we entered. Keith got first place submitting everyone and I got second submitting everyone. I got submitted in the finals though. From then on we were just hooked.”

Q: So is jiu-jitsu still your main passion?

A: “I still love jiu-jitsu. It’s an ocean that’s so deep. You could spend three lifetimes training and grappling and still have a lot to work on.

I’m a guy that gets bored really easily but I never get bored training jiu-jitsu.”

Q: You’ve dropped four weight classes in total. What were the reasons each time?

A: “Well fighting at 185lb and walking around at 178lb, that’s pretty unheard of. And being a chubby 178lb’er when most guys who were fighting at welterweight were walking around at 190lb, I wasn’t even a 170lb’er. I couldn’t compete at 155lb at the time because back then there wasn’t a lightweight division in the UFC.

Dana said as soon as the 155lb division would be brought back I’d go straight there.”

Q: You were telling everybody they were crazy suggesting you should drop to 145lb. What changed your mind?

A: “When people told me to drop I was like, ‘No way.’ I felt, and still do, that I can compete with the best guys at 155lb. Also, at the time, the 145lb division was in the WEC. I didn’t wanna fight there.

The UFC had more notoriety and general overall respect so I didn’t want to leave that behind. When the WEC got transferred over to the UFC, that’s when I changed my mind. I got really excited at the prospect of fighting José Aldo. I consulted my nutritionist and coaches and they all said I could make it.”

Q: Did you do any pre-cuts or trial runs?

A: “I was coming off a knee injury. I tore my ACL and meniscus and was cutting from 185lb. I literally couldn’t do anything for two months. I was depressed and eating like crazy. It was tough dropping all the weight. There was a lot of discipline over months of training and hard work. I felt like it took me to a new level mentally. I felt like anything was possible after that.”

Q: What did you change the most from your weight cut?

A: “Nutrition was the key. I did add extra cardio though. I usually have two sessions, sometimes three, but I was doing three sessions everyday leading up to the fight.”

Q: What advice would you give to up-and-coming guys about finding their true weight class?

A: “If you’re fighting at the lower levels it’s not as big a deal. I never cut weight for jiu-jitsu tournaments or MMA fights until I got to 185lb and then I only had to cut about three pounds. I think if you’re gonna compete at the elite levels then everything makes a difference and if you can be a bigger and stronger guy then go for it. You also gotta look at what your body can tolerate. Check out what your body fat is at as well.”

Q: You’ve had a lot of fights, with the majority in the UFC. What have you learned about yourself as a mixed martial artist and a person?

A: “I guess just constantly evolving and doing more of what you think you’re capable of doing.

Each training camp I’m able to push myself more and more and just being able to handle the work load. I just learned every single experience and training camp is different. If you’re not evolving and you’re not getting better then you’re not living life. I think I’ve been able to transfer that to everyday life from the fight game. Every experience teaches you something whether it’s a win or a loss. The sport’s still evolving and I find it exciting that I’m in the laboratory trying to figure it out for future generations.”