This is the 2nd part of the interview with local UFC star Kenny “KENFLO” Florian. In this installment we discuss his upcoming fight with Din Thomas, the Main Event at UFC Fight Night, September 19th. Kenny is no doubt ready for this fight, I’ve never seen him this focused and intense. He is taking his game where very few can.  He seems to be on a whole other level, as you will soon read. We also discuss the 155lb division, UFC/Pride, and who else he’d like to fight…  

TomC: “You took this fight with Din Thomas in early August leaving you with a month and a half or so to train, give or take. How long do you usually take to prepare for a fight?”

KENFLO: “The ideal thing for myself and my team is really 3-4 months, and that’s typical. Usually we have different types of phases we do for training, to get the optimal peak and optimal phases going for the physical training and for the technical training we like to have at least three months.”

TomC: “I’ve read that you think that you and Din offer a lot of the same things when it comes to the fight and you basically think it’s going to come down to who’s will is stronger…”

KENFLO: “We kind of have a motto for each fight, and the motto for this fight is ‘The Hungry Will Prevail’ and I really believe that, I think the hungrier fighter is going to be the one who wins, the one who wants it more.  And while you could say that’s typical of every fight I think when you have two fighters who are evenly matched who are both well rounded I think it comes down to that.”

TomC: “I think if it does come down to that you have the advantage, would you agree?”

KENFLO: “Yeah you know I’m real hungry right now.  I’m hungry to fight, I’m hungry to prove myself to the fans. I still feel like I’m the Rodney Dangerfield of MMA, and maybe it’s rightfully so.  I haven’t fought the elite elite of the division.  Maybe not haven’t fought, but haven’t beaten the elite elite guys.  That’s one thing I want to do here with this fight.  I think I’m at a point in my career where my game has matured, myself I’ve matured, I’m at a great point. Everything has changed about the way I train since the Sherk fight. I want to show people what I’m about.  When my brother told me about this possibility of a fight I didn’t ask who it was, I didn’t ask when it was, I just said ‘Where is he?’ I just want to go in there.”

TomC: ”Anybody in particular that you like watching fight regardless of weight class? Who do you really enjoy watching?”

KENFLO: “I really enjoy watching Fedor, I think just his ability to go from one modality to the other is very impressive.  His ability to go from the striking right into the grappling, to the ground n’ pound etc.  He’s just an extremely impressive fighter.  He adapts well to anyone, he’s considered one of the best in the world.…..You’ve got B.J. Penn, who I may have to face down the line (TomC starts drooling). He’s always been a guy who I’ve looked up to and has been an impressive fighter. He’s one of those guys with more skill & technique. Dan Henderson is another impressive guy, a guy who has two belts in two weight classes, that’s really impressive. There’s a ton of guys out there, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Randy Couture, who I look up to.  Those guys standout immediately in my mind.

TomC: “What were your thoughts when you first heard the UFC was bringing back the 155 division?”

KENFLO: “It was a godsend really. I was fighting at 185 at one point with the show, and then at 170 I still was small for a welterweight.  I remember Dana talked to me way back when, even on the Ultimate Fighter telling me that the goal would be to bring back the 155, he said as soon as he got the chance, and if the sport blows up he’d bring it back and sure enough he did.  That was always in the back of my mind.  Even at 155 on fight week I’ve literally never cut more than 3 lbs. I’m not a big 155’er by any means, and it’s an easy cut for me.  I could definitely make 145, but I’m not interested in going down to 145 at all.  It’s been great (155 lbs.), it’s exactly where I belong.  I’ve taken my lumps and learned lessons from fighting at higher weight classes. That has forced me to advance faster as a fighter.  I’ve learned many lessons from fighting in a higher weight classes so I have to be thankful for that as well.” 

TomC: “How do you prepare yourself mentally for a fight?”

KENFLO “The main thing is the work you put into it.  Abraham Lincoln said if he had 6 hours to chop a tree that he would take 4 of the 6 hours just to sharpen his axe.  The lesson to learn is that you make sure you go in there with all your tools.  That’s just doing the work day in and day out.  It’s training everyday, it’s diligent training, it’s discipline with your diet.  All that stuff carries over to your mental game.  If you know you put in that hard work you are going to go in there confident.   The other thing is training with different people, training with the best and knowing how you stand with those people again is going to give you that confidence.  One thing that has been an interesting experience that I’ve had as a fighter is you get more experience and you fight better and better fighters that will also carry over.  You learn those lessons whether be it a win or a loss.  You understand and you process that information and learn from it.   Understand there is constantly something to work on.  A lot has changed since the Sherk fight, mentally I’ve made a switch.  I don’t see it now as going in there and competing.  I see it as a fight, and by that I mean it’s do or die. I see my opponent now not necessarily as an opponent but as an enemy.  I feel like he’s going to try and kill me and I have to kill him first. That’s the main switch in my mentality now.  It’s either him or me.  I guess there’s just more of a serious approach now going to the fight.  I have bad intentions.  Before I think I was going in there, of course to win, and of course to do my best. And now, whether it’s good or bad, I have really bad intentions for my opponent. I don’t know if there’s kind of a ‘kill switch’ that’s turned on.”

At this point in the interview I am picturing Kenny sitting in his fight shorts taking a bite out of the side of a deer he hunted and killed with his bare hands the night before.  I’m a little scared for him and more so for me.  He is seriously intense and ready to go.  It’s about time to change the topic and find Kenny’s happy place before he goes and mauls a gazelle, or puts a bear in a RNC.

TomC: “How do you feel about the UFC and Pride merger?”

KENFLO: “Certainly the Pride fighters at 160 and under get a tremendous amount of respect amongst the MMA experts.  I’m hoping that more of those guys will be coming over to the UFC. Who knows what’s going to happen? Is Pride going to coexists with the UFC or are they just going to buy the contracts of the fighters? From a fighter’s perspective there’s and advantage and there’s a disadvantage.  There’s the advantage of getting to face truly the best fighters in the world.  Assuming they get all of them.  The disadvantage is that now it becomes more of a monopoly, it’s a little tougher to negotiate contracts with competing organizations now that’s it’s all almost one.  I definitely have faith in Zuffa, the Fertittas, and Dana White.  They’ve done some amazing things for the sport.  They’ve taken good care of me.  I think the direction the sport’s heading it’s only a positive that they have Pride under their control.  I think there’s only going to be greater things in the future.”

TomC: “How do you prefer to end a fight? Submission or KO?”

KENFLO: “Either is fine. Whatever gets the job done. Both require a high level of skill and timing. They both can also be beautiful and exciting. It is important to me that I try to demonstrate this in my fights.”

TomC: “What is your favorite weapon in the ring?? i.e. elbows, kicks, brain, heart?”

KENFLO: “I actually don’t think about using a particular move, I just let it come to me and try not to interrupt my opponent while he is making a mistake.”

TomC: “Alright say you are Joe Silva, you’re looking to match KENFLO against somebody and you want an exciting fight, who’s somebody that you would pick?”

KENFLO: “Yeah you know definitely there’s no shortage of fighters out there at 155.  I think there’s a ton of fights that could be possible.  Roger Huerta is a fight that really excites me.  I think he’s a guy with a lot of juice right now in the division.  He is very very popular right now, and he’s an exciting fighter, an aggressive fighter, and that’s the kind of fighter I’d like to fight.  Something like that.  Obviously you’ve got Sean Sherk. Who knows what is going to happen with him, but that’s a fight I’d definitely like to take eventually, be it for the title or whatever.  There’s a ton of guys or there. There really is no shortage of fighters out there.  Marcus Auerilo is another one I’d like to fight.  Maybe the winner of him and Clay Guida (Clay Guida won the fight).  Anyone who is ranked above me are the guys that I want to find essentially.  Any guy who has a better reputation, or is higher ranked in the polls, those are the guys I want to fight, because I’m ready to right now in my career, I’m ready to take those guys on, I want those big pay days.  I want to show that I’m one of the best, if not the best in the world.”

TomC: ”Assuming the 155 belt is vacated. How would you like to see the title fight drawn out? Four man tournament like when Pulver left the UFC, or just have the #1 and #2 ranked guys fight, your thoughts?”

KENFLO: “Well a tourney is out of the question due to the dislike of this format by the UFC so I guess having the #1 and #2 guy duel it out is the best format. However, I would love to see a formal ranking system used by ZUFFA so the fighters and more importantly the fans can understand the whole process of who is tops in the division.”

TomC: “You seem to be one of the ‘ambassadors’ of MMA.  Do you feel that way? Do you feel as though you’re bringing the sport to people who maybe don’t appreciate it for what it is, and putting it into the true light of things?”

KENFLO: “I hope so. I’m always surprised how there’s certain people out there who think we are just thugs, and we’re guys who kind of got off these bar stools and started brawling.  I hope I add that element, and people will kind of say here’s a kid who’s not your typical fighter, doesn’t look like a fighter, doesn’t look tough. But he’s out there, he’s training hard, he trains six, seven days a week, a couple times a day. He’s out there just like any other professional athlete.  He’s not full of tattoos, he doesn’t have a record.  He’s out there doing something that he loves. He’s not doing it because that’s the only thing he can do, I can do many other things in my life. MMA is the direction I’ve chosen because I love it.  Hopefully it does add that different element and changes peoples’ minds.”

TomC: “Is there anything you wish to add, anybody you want to thank?”

KENFLO: “I want to thank my whole team over at Sityodtong in Somerville, and thank all the local fans for their support.  I know those are the people that are always going to have my back, the fans that really really mean a lot because they’ve been with me from the beginning. Check out my website www.kennyflorian.com, check out my MySpace.  Thank you for the interview and the opportunity to do this stuff.”