Afterward, a dejected Florian sat at the UFC 136 press conference, his head hung low. The normally eloquent Florian was also short on words, and when asked if this might be it for his career, he seemed unsure of what might be next for him.
"No, not right now," he said. "I haven't really thought past this fight. We'll see what happens."
Florian said his struggles in the wrestling aspect of the fight -- he was 2-for-14 according to Compustrike numbers -- was the deciding factor. Aldo also out-landed Florian 39-9 in power strikes.
"Kenny Florian went in there tonight going after it," UFC president Dana White said. "He wanted that belt. Everybody's talked about how dominant Jose is, but Kenny went out took him the distance. He fought a great fight."
But you have to wonder if Florian has exhausted his title opportunities. The first one he got, back in 2006, was probably premature, and Florian lost a decision to Sean Sherk. Three years later, his game had matured a bit, but he could not withstand BJ Penn's power, and the Hawaiian legend finished him with a fourth-round rear naked choke.
Against Aldo in the lower division, he did not have the explosive takedowns to make the fight a grind and take away Aldo's explosiveness.
White, who once famously labeled Florian a "choker" in big fights, had nothing bad to say this time around. But he said Florian had reached a point where he had gone through a few divisions and hadn't accomplished his goal. White noted that Florian had options outside of fighting and needed to figure out his future on his own.
Florian couldn't bring himself to think about it. Not with the overwhelming feeling of the night. At least for the moment, it felt like the end.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed," Florian said. "I fought very hard. I trained extremely hard and wasn't successful. That's it."
By Mike Chiappetta
No comments:
Post a Comment