Is Kenny Florian a Choker or Not Good Enough?

Dana White called Kenny Florian a choker in the big fights. Do you agree or do you think he just lost to the better fighter?

I think he just lost to the better fighter.

Dana is right. He's a choker.

He changed his style in both the Penn and Maynard fights in fear of their strengths. In Maynard's case, it was apparent from the jump that Florian was not goingt to fight his fight in fear of Maynard taking him down. He scratched his best chance to win by doing that. In the Penn fight, he tried to emulate Machida's stance and movement(lacking the base to do so) and fought a style that completely was not his and looked like a jackass.

He's above average but will never be the top guy. It's a combination of both but his approach screams CHOKE ARTIST!

Choker although I think Dana was a dick by saying that

I'm gonna go with not good enough. He's just another can crusher that can't punch it through.

His problem is that he's so well-rounded, but not in the right way to beat better wrestlers. He's a great striker, but can't use it against wrestlers for fear of being taken down. His grappling is great, but not off his back. Almost nobody is better than him from top control, but it's not that useful against the great wrestlers in the lightweight division. He showed some improvement in his defensive wrestling since the Sherk fight, but it's not good enough to stop the great chain wrestling of a Gray Maynard or Frank Edgar. He can only stop the first shot effectively. His lack of success in his big fights is only about matchup problems he has with the holes in his game, not his inability to handle pressure. To say he chokes, as harsh as it sounds, is actually giving him a pass for the holes in his game. He needs to find a way to beat people with superior wrestling, whether he works harder on being better off his back, or working more on his own wrestling, he just needs to get better.

I went with just not good enough. This was really's Kenny's 1st legit #1 contender fight with a elite level guy. He has lost all of his toughest fights in the UFC. Like Dana said, give Kenny a mid-level guy and he will run right through them.

I think instead of trying to play to his own strengths, he fought to avoid his opponents strength. I blame that completely on Kenny, because he won't fire his brother who is one of his two main coaches. Kenny needs to expand his grappling skills, in both Wrestling and BJJ. But more importantly he needs to work on his clinch fighting. I still say he needs to spend 6 months at Team Quest working on nothing but Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, mostly the latter.

I also think he needs to bulk up, he looked hell-a smaller then Maynard in the cage.

killerofchicken wrote:

I also think he needs to bulk up, he looked hell-a smaller then Maynard in the cage.

+1

killerofchicken wrote:

I also think he needs to bulk up, he looked hell-a smaller then Maynard in the cage.

Well Kenny is 5'10 and Maynard was 5'8. Also if I remember right he had 4 inches of reach on Maynard so he is taller and longer. Not sure how much weight Kenny cuts though to get to LW. But remember he fought as high at MW on TUF show.

OUSOONERSOU wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

I also think he needs to bulk up, he looked hell-a smaller then Maynard in the cage.

Well Kenny is 5'10 and Maynard was 5'8. Also if I remember right he had 4 inches of reach on Maynard so he is taller and longer. Not sure how much weight Kenny cuts though to get to LW. But remember he fought as high at MW on TUF show.

I've always maintained that 185 was not Kenny's natural weight or anywhere near it. I think when the UFC comes knocking and says "we need someone who can fight at 185" if you can make 185 you do what you can. I woiuld hazard a guess that his walkaround weight is somewhere near 170-175 or so.

LudoCain wrote:

OUSOONERSOU wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

I also think he needs to bulk up, he looked hell-a smaller then Maynard in the cage.

Well Kenny is 5'10 and Maynard was 5'8. Also if I remember right he had 4 inches of reach on Maynard so he is taller and longer. Not sure how much weight Kenny cuts though to get to LW. But remember he fought as high at MW on TUF show.

I've always maintained that 185 was not Kenny's natural weight or anywhere near it. I think when the UFC comes knocking and says "we need someone who can fight at 185" if you can make 185 you do what you can. I woiuld hazard a guess that his walkaround weight is somewhere near 170-175 or so.

Yeah I know neither Kenny or Diego weren't even close to natural MW. I don't remember ever hearing about how much Kenny walks around at.

Maynard was far too strong for Kenny to deal with.

OUSOONERSOU wrote:

LudoCain wrote:

OUSOONERSOU wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

I also think he needs to bulk up, he looked hell-a smaller then Maynard in the cage.

Well Kenny is 5'10 and Maynard was 5'8. Also if I remember right he had 4 inches of reach on Maynard so he is taller and longer. Not sure how much weight Kenny cuts though to get to LW. But remember he fought as high at MW on TUF show.

I've always maintained that 185 was not Kenny's natural weight or anywhere near it. I think when the UFC comes knocking and says "we need someone who can fight at 185" if you can make 185 you do what you can. I woiuld hazard a guess that his walkaround weight is somewhere near 170-175 or so.

Yeah I know neither Kenny or Diego weren't even close to natural MW. I don't remember ever hearing about how much Kenny walks around at.

I've never heard anything on it either but given his height and length I assume his frame has got to be somewhere aroud 170ish.

Awesome gif Ludo.

Thanks, Ali. I like your sig too.

Not great enough