Kenny Florian Talks Takanori Gomi & Diego Sanchez

After a dominant win over Clay Guida, Kenny Florian is setting his sights on UFC newcomer and former Pride champ Takanori Gomi. In the exclusive talk with Cage Potato, he gives us his thoughts on the match-up, and lets us know how he really feels about seeing his old nemesis Diego Sanchez fleeing the lightweight division.

Fans have followed your twitter posts and saw you yesterday on ESPN’s “MMA Live” talking about fighting Takanori Gomi. Has anything developed further since then? Is the fight officially signed by all parties?

No nothing has been signed as of right now. We’re in talks and its being talked about as a main event of the March Fight Night card in North Carolina. I’m excited with that possibility but nothing has been signed yet. Of course it’s something that I’m willing to sign and I’m sure Gomi will as well when the contract has been delivered.

Were you surprised when it was announced that Gomi was signed by the UFC? He’s struggled since 2006 when he lost to Marcus Aurelio.

I was a little surprised when he was signed but not so much because for me it kind of came out of nowhere, but when you really look at it, Gomi has been one of the best lightweight fighters for a long time. He’s a very dangerous fighter and he’s still on a two-fight win streak. He’s still one of the best fighters in the world and I think it was a great signing by the UFC to bring in great Japanese talent and to bring in a legend in mixed martial arts. Japan will be behind him and I know he’s got a lot of fans in the U.S. as well.

It could have been totally in my head, but I sensed a little bit of disappointment when you said on “MMA Live” last night that the fight with Gomi was scheduled to be a Fight Night main event. What is better, being on a Spike main event or being on a pay-per-view, honestly?

Well, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, there is a certain excitement that goes with competing on a pay-per-view event. It’s a little bit more prestigious. But being able to fight on Spike TV is where I got my start so it’s an honor to be fighting on Spike as well. I think the reach is even bigger on Spike TV. I just hope that they market it as an exclusive event, as a big fight. Sometimes I’ll still get, “Hey, congratulations on your recent win over Mishima or Karalexis,” or something. So I hope people realize that it’s a big fight. Its always exciting fighting in the UFC and anytime you get to fight on a main event it’s a special opportunity. So I’m looking to make the most out of it. I’m really looking forward to just getting back into the Octagon and competing again.

I’m assuming that the UFC has Gomi’s fight footage from his days as champion in Pride. Is that type of assurance from the UFC, that they will promote the fight heavily and use all they can, important to you in deciding whether or not to take the fight?

No. I’m going to take the fight. I’ve always wanted to compete against the best fighters. I think Gomi is one of the best. For me, I don’t care where I fight, when I fight. The opportunity to fight a guy like that is not something to pass up. For me, I’m just looking forward to going against a fighter like Gomi.

Assuming you’re fighting on that March card against Gomi, what’s your schedule from here on out? I know you’ve already been training, but what’s the plan for a training camp?

I’ve already been training, like you said, and I’m in Florida right now doing an appearance. As soon as I get back to Boston it’s pretty much back to business and a little bit more hardcore training as we start to working towards the crescendo and as we get closer to the fight, we taper – probably the week before the fight. I’m looking forward to getting right back into training and during that time I’ll be spending a lot of time in Montreal and of course in Boston. That’s where I split my time training.

Right now I’ve just been developing a lot of new things, a lot of new techniques, doing a lot of things with Firas [Zahabi] and my brother and my boxing coach Peter Welch. We all have goals for me to be working towards and I’ve been doing my best to achieve those goals. I think we’ll see a different Kenny Florian for this fight and I’m looking to surprise people once again. I’m very motivated for this fight and my coaches are the best in the world. We’ll all be ready.

Last question is off topic. Diego Sanchez looks to be going back up to welterweight. I guess I’m curious about a couple different points there with you. How badly did you want a rematch with him? Would you have fought Diego even if he was coming off of a loss and you were coming off of a win? Did you want to fight him that badly?

Yeah, I would have fought him. Definitely. Diego is still a good fighter and there’s no shame in losing to a guy like BJ Penn. We are both different fighters from the first time we fought and of course I’d love a rematch with Diego. Who knows? Maybe it’s still something that could happen, you know? Maybe we could meet at a catch weight or maybe we could do it at 155. I think Diego wants big fights. I still see this as a viable option in the future.

You talk about this in a very calm and classy way, and you did that yesterday in your role as a commentator for “MMA Live.” But given that Diego was talking a lot when he moved down to lightweight basically saying, ‘I saw Kenny doing so well and I kicked Kenny’s ass so I should be able to do really well,’ – I know you saw those comments and you’re not with “MMA Live” right now, you’re talking with CagePotato. Is there any satisfaction in seeing Diego decide that he can’t do it at lightweight and go up to welterweight again?

(Laughs) You know, I pretty much predicted that. The skill level at 155lbs is the best in the UFC, if you look across the board, in terms of well-rounded fighters. You are not going to come in to the UFC 155 division and start finishing guys right away. People see me doing it and what do they think I’m doing, just lying around not training? I train my ass off every single day to be able to do that and it’s not an easy thing to be able to finish guys at 155. That’s something I really pride myself on. The only guys, I think, at 155 that are consistently finishing people are me and BJ Penn. I think that takes a special skill to be able to do that. Not everybody can do that, I don’t promise to be able to do that all the time but that’s the way I fight and that’s the way I train to fight.

Diego thought he was going to be able to go out there and just smash people at 155. Not going to happen, Diego. The skill level is too good out there. You have to be very, very well rounded. He thought what he was able to do at 170, he was going to do even better at 155 and that’s just not the case. It just shows me the talent that is out there at 155. In my opinion, Diego just never looked great at 155.
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