Kenny Florian (9-3) has come a helluva long way since his days on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 1. In fact, Florian wasn’t even initially expected to be on the show. Back in July 2004, UFC executives were scouting for new fighters, and in particular, had their eye on a fighter named Drew Fickett. He was slated to face a young fighter by the name of Kenny Florian (who was just 2-0 at the time) at Combat Zone 7: “Gravel Pit.” Florian lost that fight via decision, but Dana White was so impressed with Florian’s toughness against the much more experienced Fickett (he was 22-2 at the time) that White approached the Boston native about an opportunity to try out for a new program centered around young fighters. Florian would have to move up in weight to compete in the show’s Middleweight division. As one of the smallest guys on the show, he was the definitive underdog. But that didn’t stop him from going all the way to the finals, where he lost to the highly favored Diego Sanchez. Now more than three years later, Florian has displayed remarkable improvement. Just imagine the Kenny Florian of today fighting the Kenny Florian from back then would be ridiculous. Hell, Florian today fighting Diego Sanchez today would look nothing like their first meeting. You can take that to the bank. Since that time, Florian was just the second TUF alum from any season to be granted a title shot (against Sean Sherk for the vacant Lightweight strap), and aside ...
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Kenny Florian (9-3) has come a helluva long way since his days on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 1. In fact, Florian wasn’t even initially expected to be on the show. Back in July 2004, UFC executives were scouting for new fighters, and in particular, had their eye on a fighter named Drew Fickett. He was slated to face a young fighter by the name of Kenny Florian (who was just 2-0 at the time) at Combat Zone 7: “Gravel Pit.” Florian lost that fight via decision, but Dana White was so impressed with Florian’s toughness against the much more experienced Fickett (he was 22-2 at the time) that White approached the Boston native about an opportunity to try out for a new program centered around young fighters. Florian would have to move up in weight to compete in the show’s Middleweight division. As one of the smallest guys on the show, he was the definitive underdog. But that didn’t stop him from going all the way to the finals, where he lost to the highly favored Diego Sanchez. Now more than three years later, Florian has displayed remarkable improvement. Just imagine the Kenny Florian of today fighting the Kenny Florian from back then would be ridiculous. Hell, Florian today fighting Diego Sanchez today would look nothing like their first meeting. You can take that to the bank. Since that time, Florian was just the second TUF alum from any season to be granted a title shot (against Sean Sherk for the vacant Lightweight strap), and aside ...