After Kenny Florian beat Joe Stevenson at UFC 91, he was crowned the No. 1 lightweight contender. But as Florian himself acknowledged on the set of ESPN's MMA Live, that doesn't necessarily mean his next fight will be against lightweight champ B.J. Penn:
Florian said he wants a title shot, but when asked if he might actually fight Sean Sherk next, Florian said, "It's possible. It's possible, and really I'm ready for anybody. I would love to fight Sean Sherk myself."
The bottom line is that despite the UFC's declarations that it now has a lightweight No. 1 contender (Florian) and a welterweight No. 1 contender (Thiago Alves), there's really no way it can promise those two that they'll get title fights soon. We won't know what the future holds for the lightweight and welterweight titles until we see Penn fight welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre on January 31. So the No. 1 contenders will just have to wait.
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