Kenny Florian, Joe Stevenson look to move up lightweight ranks at UFC 91
Published Thursday November 13th, 2008
LAS VEGAS - With lightweight title-holder B.J. Penn preoccupied with a late January showdown with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, other 155-pounders in the UFC are jockeying for position.
The mixed martial arts lightweight horizon should be a little clearer Saturday night after Kenny (KenFlo) Florian and Joe (Daddy) Stevenson square off in the co-main event of UFC 91 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (available on pay-per-view).
UFC president Dana White said Thursday that the winner will challenge Penn for the lightweight title.
Both Florian and Stevenson enter the cage with good credentials.
The 32-year-old Florian is coming off a win over Roger Huerta, derailing the much-hyped 17-fight win streak of the popular fighter known as El Matador at UFC 87 in August. Florian showed he had more tools than Huerta, frustrating him en route to a unanimous decision.
The five-foot-10 Florian has won five straight and not lost since dropping a bloody decision to Sean (The Muscle Shark) Sherk for the lightweight title at UFC 64 in October 2006. Sherk, a powerful wrestler, dominated him on the ground in a performance that forced the jiu-jitsu black belt to re-evaluate all aspects of his game, from diet to training.
Stevenson, at 5-7, is a smallish lightweight with a big heart. He was soundly beaten by Penn at UFC 80 in January, suffering a cut from the get-go that leaked blood until he was choked out late in the second round with the title on the line. Stevenson, a black belt in jiu jitsu and judo, bounced back with a submission win over Gleison Tibau at UFC 86 in July.
Stevenson, 26, had some trouble handling the bigger Tibau before catching him in his trademark guillotine choke.
Both are graduates of "The Ultimate Fighter." Florian, fighting two divisions above where he is now, lost to Diego Sanchez in the Season 1 final as a middleweight while Stevenson won Season 2 as a welterweight.
Neither fighter is a trash-talker. But both have had points to make in the leadup to Saturday night.
Florian, for one, says it's not about who's better on the ground or on their feet.
"I'm a mixed martial arts fighter. I think he's a fighter who fights mixed martial arts. There's a big difference in that," he said. "I think his striking has got better, but I still don't think he has the complete package, at the highest level.
"Doesn't mean he isn't a great fighter, he's still a great, great fighter because his submission skills are so strong. He's still a very good wrestler but I think I'm a mixed martial artist, a modern mixed martial artist. I think I can win the fight a bunch of different ways."
The bookies seem to agree, making Florian almost a 2-1 favourite, something that has riled Stevenson, whose record is listed as 34-8 by the UFC although he says he has fought more often than that.
"Maybe it's hype, maybe I'm mistaken. But I've got some 50 fights under my belt. I fought people that I think would beat him when I was 16, 17 years old so I don't know why it looks this way. But I'm going to make it a point to prove different to everyone."
Not surprisingly, Florian (12-3) isn't getting into the debate.
"Maybe Joe needs that. He's been in the fight game a while, he needs something to get fired up about. Me, I'm fired up regardless. As soon as I found out I was going to fight Joe Stevenson, I was fired up."
Florian also noted that Stevenson had early problems with the much bigger Tibau. (Said Stevenson: "I watched the video and they go 'He's got to be at least 175 pounds right now.' And I was thinking to myself, I'm 175 pounds right there, so he's probably a little bigger than that.")
"We saw that Stevenson can struggle on the ground ... Positionally he can make some mistakes out there so it was a good fight to watch," Florian said.
Stevenson, who has wrestled since sixth grade and made his pro MMA debut in 1999 as a teenager, welcomes such talk.
"Everyone knows I'm not going to sit there and have a kickoff with the dude. I think he thinks it's cool if we're on the ground and that's awesome for me because I know I have a clear advantage on the ground."
Florian knows that's where Stevenson wants to take the fight.
"He can strike for sure and he's always dangerous, but I believe that ultimately his strategy is to try to take me down, up against the fence, and try to work his ground and pound against me," he said. "I know that's where he feels most comfortable and he thinks I'm going to be the most vulnerable.
"My wrestling has been something I've really been improving on and training so I can't wait to test it out against a good strong wrestler like Joe Stevenson."
Against Huerta, Florian elected to fight from the outside, an effective but unappetizing strategy, according to Stevenson.
"I don't like it when people just score points and try to squeak by a victory. That's not what people pay to see and that's not what people want to see. I like an all-out rock-em-sock-em (fight). I'm a Ricky Hatton fan. I like to see a fight."
Some might argue that the well-spoken Florian, who served as a UFC colour commentator at UFC 83, is a bit of a media darling. Stevenson thinks so, but says there's nothing wrong with that.
"Some people take better pictures than other people," he said. "I don't care, that's not why I fight. I fight because I want the belt and I want to be the best and when it's all said and done, 10 years from now, when another lightweight is doing the job, I want them to say 'Man him and Joe Stevenson, that would have been an awesome fight. Do you think he could beat Joe back in the day?"'
Stevenson took some time off earlier in the year to spend time with his growing family. He has four boys, aged from seven years to six months.
Florian and Stevenson have something in common in that they have both opened gyms recently: Florian Martial Arts Centre (www.florianmartialartscenter.com) in Boston and Joe Stevenson's Cobra Kai (www.cagechamp.com) in Victorville, Calif.
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