Well, I am back from Vegas and it is good to be home in Boston. The KenFlo shirts I brought to Vegas were a big hit and I sold out of them. However, you can still get them at my online store and support the Flo movement!!
My fight against 4 time World Champion Kit Cope on Nov. 5th went exactly as planned. Kit went into the fight talking a lot of trash. He had won his last two MMA fights on the ground and had been working hard on his ground game for the last couple of years. He even got the help of ADCC Absolute Champ Dean Lister, MMA veteran Dennis Hallman and former UFC Champ Tito Ortiz to help him with his grappling.
I stayed focused on the fight itself and concentrated on nothing else but executing my game plan. Kit was strong in the beginning and desperately tried to avoid the ground. Once on the ground, Kit was not able to put up much of a fight. After working punches and elbows from side mount on Kit, and after threatening with a shoulder lock, I secured the mount position with about 30 seconds to go in round 1 and started raining down punches. He raised his arm to protect his face and I immediately went for the arm bar. He tapped just as the round ended and injured his arm in the process by holding out for too long. I knew he was tired and he looked deflated going into round 2. I immediately pressured him against the fence and took him down with another single leg takedown. I worked to his back and secured the Rear naked choke where Kit was forced to tap out only 37 seconds into round 2.
This was a good opportunity to finally demonstrate my ground game to everyone. I felt extremely relaxed and comfortable in the octagon. Luckily, I was never injured nor in trouble at any point during the fight. I left the fight with a win and without suffering any damage at all. This my friends, is always a good thing. 🙂
I would like to thank all my fans and friends for their amazing support before and after this fight. You guys really motivate me and push me to be better everyday. Being the first fight of the night live on SpikeTV was a tremendous honor and it was truly thrilling to be part of such an amazing night of fights. Everyone truly fought their heart out.
My brother Keith really made sure that I was on top of my game for this fight and pushed me to my limits technically and physically. He always demands perfection on the mat and has amazing feedback for me that always raises my game to higher levels. I am lucky to have a BJJ black belt and pain in the butt as a brother. My Muay Thai instructor, Mark DellaGrotte from Sityodtong in Boston was pivotal in both the technical preparation for this fight and for setting up the sparring for me. His world class muay thai skills and crafty MMA game was challenging me everyday in sparring and his tough and technical students were always there to spar with me as well. My boxing coach Peter Welch was important as well in developing my footwork, head movement and mental game for this fight. Helping me with my strength and conditioning along with some meditation was Doug Dupont. His knowledge and approach is truly revolutionary when it comes to preparing for MMA fights. I felt in great shape thanks to him. In only two months of working strength and conditioning with him, I made great gains in becoming a more capable fighter. I must thank Frank Trigg and the R1 gym as well for the great coaching while I was in Southern Calif training for a couple weeks. He really helped my wrestling a great deal and showed me some good stuff.
A big thank you to the following training partners for getting me ready:
Jorge Rivera, Andreas Jeudi, Nuri Shakir, Matt Fletcher, Mike Littlefield, Lance Everson, Andy Wang, Kengo Ura, Steve Medina, Nate Ryan, Bobby Diaz and everyone else from Boston BJJ, Sityodtong and the Boneyard.
I will continue to stay humble and work hard to improve as much as I can for my next fight. I do not know when I will fight next or against whom, but I assure you that you guys will know who it is before anyone else does.
Peace, love and chokes,
KenFlo
PS: I would like to send my heartfelt condolences to fellow MMA warrior and TUF2 finalist Brad Imes who lost his mother on Sunday, Nov. 6th. Please send your prayers and thoughts along with me for the Imes family.Visit the Kenny Florian Store email: kennyflorian@yahoo.com web: http://www.kennyflorian.com