In his featherweight debut,
Kenny Florian showed that he's one of the best featherweights in the world. Next he may get the chance to show that he's the very best.
Florian defeated
Diego Nunes by unanimous decision at
UFC 131, likely earning a shot at Nunes's training partner,
UFC featherweight champion
Jose Aldo. The judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Florian.
After the fight, Florian said that getting down to featherweight, having previously fought at lightweight or higher, had been tough for him.
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=1002055&pid=1002054&uts=1307851504
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
UFC 131 Fight Night Photos
Yves Edwards is knocked out at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
UFC 131 Photos
Sam Stout throws a punch at Yves Edwards at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Yves Edwards is knocked out at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Sam Stout celebrates his win with coach Shawn Tompkins at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Sam Stout hugs UFC official Joe Silva at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Doctors attend to Yves Edwards at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Chris Weidman def. Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Krzystof Soszynksi controls Mike Massenzio at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Krzystof Soszynksi gets hit by Mike Massenzio at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Mike Massenzio punches Krzystof Soszynksi at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
Krzystof Soszynksi moves forward against Mike Massenzio at UFC 131 on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
UFC 131 Photos
"That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Florian said of cutting to 145 pounds.
Nunes looked solid in the first round, getting the better of the striking exchanges in the early going and also flooring Florian with a 1-2 in the closing seconds. Florian did have a very good takedown and landed a couple of good strikes of of his own, but Nunes deserved to win the first.
In the second round, however, Nunes began to look tired and Florian seemed fresh. When Nunes managed to get Florian on his back, it was Florian who punished Nunes with elbows to the bottom. And later in the round Florian secured a great takedown and put Nunes on his back. It was a very good second round for Florian.
A minute into the third round Florian took Nunes down again, and he mostly controlled it from there, both on the ground and when they returned to their feet. In the last couple of seconds of the fight Nunes actually connected with a very hard combination that knocked Florian down to one knee, but that wasn't enough to change the fact that Florian had won the round, and the fight.
Florian made no secret that he wants to fight for Aldo's title, saying afterward, "I want to make a run for that belt."
