35 year old Kenny Florian opted against retirement after a failed attempt at taking the UFC featherweight title and suffering his third title loss. Instead Florian plans to return to the UFC’s lightweight division.
The Ultimate Fighter 1 runner-up has competed in four different UFC weight classes, and recently he expanded on his reasoning while speaking with the “Boston Herald”:
“I still love this sport tremendously and still want to be a part of it,” Florian told the newspaper. “I know myself, and it’s not even just being competitive, but it’s just being there learning and competing. There’s still very much a fire burning there, so I’m going to do it.”
Earlier this month at UFC 136, Florian suffered a unanimous-decision loss to champion Jose Aldo, and he explained that he planned on staying out of the octagon for at least the next six months with an approximate return date of Spring 2012.
After the loss, Florian explained he wasn’t sure about future in the UFC and whether or not he felt he would return. UFC president Dana White said, “he’ll always have a home with the UFC”. White went on to say:
“I’ve got nothing but respect for him, and Kenny Florian will be with us no matter what,” White said. “Kenny Florian’s awesome. He commentated our last show. I think he’s great on camera. I think he’s great on the mic. He’s a talented guy with a lot of options, and he’s always been a solid guy with us and always been a team player.”
As for now, Kenny Florian will be taking some time off, but fans definitely look forward to his return early next year. For now, fans will have to tune in to ESPN’s weekly “MMA Live” to see the fan-favorite MMA personality.
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