Latest in ‘Kenny's Blog’
My March 2013 Zuffa Fighter Rankings
My criteria for ranking is based on overall record, most recent wins, win streaks, strength of opposition & quality of wins. Ex. A dominant 2nd round KO over an opponent will weigh more heavily than a close & controversial decision win. Also, a long layoff in competition may result in a lower ranking. Fighters are only ranked if they have fought in that weight class. Ex. Chael Sonnen has not fought at 205lbs in the UFC yet so he has no ranking.
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (265 pound-limit)
1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Frank Mir
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
9. Roy Nelson
10. Gabriel Gonzaga
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
1. Jon Jones
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Dan Henderson
4. Alexander Gustafsson
5. Mauricio Rua
6. Rogerio Nogueira
7. Glover Teixeira
8. Rashad Evans
9. Phil Davis
10. Thiago Silva
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Chris Weidman
4. Yushin Okami
5. Vitor Belfort
6. Michael Bisping
7. Brian Stann
8. Constantinos Philippou
9. Luke Rockhold
10. Tim Boetsch
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit)
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Johny Hendricks
3. Nick Diaz
4. Carlos Condit
5. Demian Maia
6. Rory MacDonald
7. Martin Kampmann
8. Jake Ellenberger
9. Robbie Lawler
10. Tarec Saffiedine
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (155-pound limit)
1. Benson Henderson
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Anthony Pettis
4. Gray Maynard
5. Nate Diaz
6. Jim Miller
7. Donald Cerrone
8. Rafael Dos Anjos
9. TJ Grant
10. Khabib Nurmagomedov
FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 pound-limit)
1. Jose Aldo
2. Frankie Edgar
3. Ricardo Lamas
4. Chad Mendes
5. Cub Swanson
6. Chan Sung Jung
7. Denis Siver
8. Nik Lentz
9. Erik Koch
10. Dustin Poirier
BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 pound-limit)
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Renan Barao
3. Urijah Faber
4. Michael McDonald
5. Eddie Wineland
6. Raphael Assuncao
7. Brad Pickett
8. Mike Easton
9. Scott Jorgensen
10. Ivan Menjivar
FLYWEIGHT DIVISION (125 pound-limit)
1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Jon Dodson
4. Ian McCall
5. John Moraga
6. John Lineker
7. Chris Cariaso
8. Jussier Da Silva
9. Darren Uyenoyama
10. Louis Gaudinot
Kenny Florian: Anthony Pettis’ Bigger Name Won Him Immediate Title Shot
(MMAJunkie.com) Kenny Florian fought once at featherweight before getting a shot at champ Jose Aldo’s belt. But the retired fighter is not surprised that Anthony Pettis skipped that step.
“I understand very well that this is a business,” Florian told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “It does come down to the fights that make the most amount of sense.” Read More
My February 2013 Zuffa Fighter Rankings
My criteria for ranking is based on overall record, most recent wins, win streaks, strength of opposition & quality of wins. Ex. A dominant 2nd round KO over an opponent will weigh more heavily than a close & controversial decision win. Also, a long layoff in competition may result in a lower ranking. Fighters are only ranked if they have fought in that weight class. Ex. Chael Sonnen has not fought at 205lbs in the UFC yet so he has no ranking.
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (206-265 pounds)
1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
5. Fabricio Werdum
6. Josh Barnett
7. Alistair Overeem
8. Frank Mir
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
10. Roy Nelson
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205-pound limit)
1. Jon Jones
2. Dan Henderson
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Alexander Gustafsson
5. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
6. Rogerio Nogueira
7. Glover Teixeira
8. Thiago Silva
9. Rashad Evans
10. Phil Davis
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185-pound limit)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Chris Weidman
4. Vitor Belfort
5. Yushin Okami
6. Michael Bisping
7. Brian Stann
8. Constantinos Philippou
9. Hector Lombard
10. Luke Rockhold
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170-pound limit)
1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Johny Hendricks
3. Nick Diaz
4. Carlos Condit
5. Demian Maia
6. Rory McDonald
7. Martin Kampmann
8. Jake Ellenburger
9. Jon Fitch
10. Josh Koscheck
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (155-pound limit)
1. Benson Henderson
2. Frankie Edgar
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Anthony Pettis
5. Gray Maynard
6. Nate Diaz
7. Jim Miller
8. Donald Cerrone
9. Josh Thomson
10. TJ Grant
FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 pound-limit)
1. Jose Aldo
2. Frankie Edgar
3. Ricardo Lamas
4. Chad Mendes
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Cub Swanson
7. Denis Siver
8. Nik Lentz
9. Dustin Poirier
10. Erik Koch
BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 lbs weight limit)
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Renan Barao
3. Michael McDonald
4. Urijah Faber
5. Eddie Wineland
6. Raphael Assuncao
7. Brad Pickett
8. Mike Easton
9. Ivan Menjivar
10. Brian Bowles
FLYWEIGHT DIVISION (125 lbs weight limit)
1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Jon Dodson
4. Ian McCall
5. John Moraga
6. John Lineker
7. Chris Cariaso
8. Jussier Da Silva
9. Louis Gaudinot
10. Yasuhiro Urushitani
My January 2013 ZUFFA Fighter Rankings
My criteria for ranking is based on overall record, most recent wins, win streaks, strength of opposition & quality of wins. Ex. A dominant 2nd round KO over an opponent will weigh more heavily than a close & controversial decision win. Fighters are only ranked if they have fought in that weight class. Ex. Frankie Edgar has not fought at 145lbs yet so he has no ranking.” Read More
My November 2012 ZUFFA Fighter Rankings
My criteria for ranking is based on overall record, most recent wins, win streaks, strength of opposition & quality of wins. Ex. A dominant 2nd round KO over an opponent will weigh more heavily than a close & controversial decision win. Fighters are only ranked if they have fought in that weight class. Ex. Frankie Edgar has not fought at 145lbs yet so he has no ranking.” Read More
Kenny Florian Says UFC Will Surpass Baseball in Popularity in the United States
(UK Examiner) According to a Nov. 13 press release from Fuel TV, former UFC contender Kenny Florian predicts that the UFC will surpass baseball in popularity in the United States over the course of the next decade.
Florian, 36, hasn’t fought since losing to Jose Aldo at UFC 136 in Oct. of 2011, but he’s recently stayed in the spotlight as an analyst on Fuel TV’s “UFC Tonight.” Read More
UFC Veteran Kenny Florian Officially Retires
(MMAJunkie) The UFC veteran, who hasn’t competed since an October title loss to featherweight champion Jose Aldo, made the decision official at today’s weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Read More
The Perfection Puzzle
Being a perfectionist can be both a blessing and a curse. Throughout my career it has driven me to the extremes in technique and precision, but it has also caused me to be overly critical and easily frustrated. The nature of fighting and life is that ultimately you are not in control. Accepting this has been a fundamental element of my growth as a fighter and person. Read More
Food Fuels High Performance
Food is most certainly fuel and we often make that analogy. However why don’t we make that same analogy to our bodies comparing them to a high performance sports car? Our bodies are infinitely more complex than one, yet we are at satisfied “filling” it with the lowest grades of fuel.
I remember how ignorant I was about food back on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter”. I was literally putting cookies into my protein shakes to gain weight. I was trying to put on fat in my attempt to get close to 180lbs while I was fighting muscular 205lbers cutting down to the 185lbs weight class. Not good!
Since then I have done my best to slowly educate myself about how to gain the right weight and how to lose weight properly as well. More importantly, I have educated myself on the importance of eating real whole foods that are healthy, will aid in my performance and will make me look and feel good. I stopped thinking about what was just convenient and what tasted good and really started thinking about what foods were going to help me achieve my goals.
Anything that brought me further away from achieving my goals was deleted. Cookies taste great, but they weren’t going to get me to train better or longer. Instead, I traded that in for healthy fruits and vegetables that were gonna help me recover better, feel better and look better. I traded in the occasional soda with only drinking water or juicing actual fruits. I increased my consumption of water and just that alone gave me more energy for my two to three sessions of training per day. I started looking in to not only the foods that were going to help me but the timing of foods and how that will aid in my recovery and performance for the rigors of MMA training.
Like most things in life, you can’t cut corners with your nutrition if you want the good results. It comes down to consistency and getting a good balance of fats, proteins and high complex carbohydrates. Supplements and “diet bars” are not going cut it. You need real food as it is grown in nature to get the results you want. Don’t get caught up in fads, quick diets or taking medication to lose weight.
Everything you need to feel better and look better is offered to you in nature. Commit to it and you will not only feel and look better but it will have dramatic effects on your overall well being and life. Here on my blog I will offer recipes, nutrition tips and specific information on foods that have helped me tremendously.
MMA – Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
The following quote rings very true in the fight game. “We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.” You can hope for the best all you want, but at some point the truth will always find you in combat.
This is why it is absolutely imperative to explore every nook and cranny of MMA. There is one reality in the fight game, you never know how a fight will play out. You have to be fully prepared for every eventuality. You have to be ready for a high level of wrestling, striking or submission. Furthermore, you have to be ready for an opponent’s explosiveness, speed, endurance, strategy etc. . .
It’s no surprise that we often make mistakes when we see something for the first time. Driving down a new road, being asked an uncomfortable question or being spooked in the dark. All these things get us to react in ways we are not used to. Doing this in the fight game leads to mistakes that are often responsible for losing you the fight.
It is rare that you will respond correctly the first time you encounter something so all these “encounters” must be experienced many times in training. To do this, you must be willing to get out of your comfort zone and train in situations that are new, unfamiliar and difficult. Essentially, you must get comfortable with the uncomfortable. If you understand the boundaries of your comfort zone and explore them thoroughly you will create discomfort for your opponent. This exercise allows you to respond correctly when you experience a specific challenge in the cage.
I’ve always enjoyed training with different sparring partners and going to new locations. These experiences recreate that feeling of having butterflies before a fight. When I would train with the same people day in and day out, I would get comfortable training with them, because I understood their style of fighting. I would figure out their strengths and weaknesses.
When going with someone for the first time, you don’t have that luxury. Even training in an unfamiliar environment has it’s advantages. You have different mat surfaces to deal with, new faces watching, new training rules etc… All these things that are uncomfortable to you at first, but they allow you to evolve mentally, physically and technically.
