Number one lightweight title contender Kenny "Ken-Flo" Florian is planning on traveling to Montreal, Quebec, to train with reigning welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre for his upcoming title tilt with BJ Penn this summer. Needless to say Florian's game plan will have to be much different than what St. Pierre's was to squash Penn, but other than Matt Hughes, nobody knows how to fight Penn better than St. Pierre. No word on weather or not Florian will also seek out tactical guru Greg "Yoda" Jackson for advise as well. Florian's day-to-day training goes on down in Boston at Team Sityodtong with Mark DellaGrotte. Florian has had a lightweight title shot once before. At UFC 64: Unstoppable, Florian battled reigning champion Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk, cutting the champ with elbows leading to a messy fight. Sherk dominated with his wrestling and take-downs en route to a lopsided, unanimous decision victory. Also making his way to the Tri-Star Gym is welterweight and former number one contender Karo "The Heat" Parisyan. The Armenian is going to work with St. Pierre's strength and conditioning coach John Chaimberg as well as head trainer Firas "go fuck yourself" Zahabi. Parisyan's conditioning has been a major issue in the past. He refused to weight train or work extensively on anything but judo. A trim and in shape Parisyan might be better suited to the lightweight division but Parisyan is an egomaniac so odds are he will stay at 170-lbs. Parisyan typically trains with fellow Armenians in North Hollywood, California, but has also worked with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque. St. Pierre and Parisyan fought at UFC 46: Supernatural in early 2004. It was St. Pierre's UFC debut but he was able to score a unanimous decision victory in the bout.
I thought I had read that David Louiseau had been training at Sityodtong so maybe that's why Florian is travelling to Montreal. That and training with GSP can only help him.
on side note.. speedy has praised frank mir for his ability to speak on national television.. what about kflo? he should move to the broadcast after he retires as well.. i hope GSP helps kflo to capture that LHW crown..
Frank Mir is pretty smart. The thing with him is that he was successful in MMA but he was mostly natural talent, he never really applied himself. He has shown on the WEC broadcasts that he is actually quite a student of the game, something that became even more evident when he tooled Nogueira at UFC 92. Florian isn't on his level in terms of analyzing a fight but he is pretty decent. A little more time in the booth would serve Kenny well, but I don't want him to replace Rogan. Bas Rutten is also a fabulous commentator though he tends to drift. The worst/best commentary team was Don Frye and Quinton Jackson from King of the Cage. It was like watching it with them in your living room. They were completely unprofessional in an entertaining way. Try to catch KOTC: Sin City from a few years back. Their play by play of the main event (Severn vs. Timmerman) was hilarious.
Kenflo training with GSP makes sense. He is going to try and mimmick GSP's path to victory over Penn.
Patrick Cote also trains with delagrotti so maybe thats where Kenflo made the Canadian connection... If KenFlo thinks he can mimmick GSP's game plan hes gonna be in some trouble. He isn't nearly as strong as GSP. I can't think of a place where Florian would even have a chance against BJ, maybe if he stands and trades with him.
