Photo: Leon Sandoval www.heyleon.com, Instagram @heyleonmedia and Facebook.com/heyleonmedia
Former UFC contender Kenny Florian has just returned to Jiu-Jitsu competitions after a 13 year hiatus from grappling competitions.
Florian currently works as an analyst for UFC on Fox TV and also runs his own Martial Arts and BJJ academy.
Florian is an accomplished 3rd degree BJJ black belt under Roberto Maia of Boston Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Gracie Barra Boston) but his last grappling competition dates back to 2003.
Florian is 39 and is technically in Master 2 but he competed at Masters 1 (over 30 to 35 years old) middleweight black belt division at the IBJJF New York Spring International Open, last weekend. He lost his first match in a controversial manner when the referee made a mistake in awarding points.
Florian told Elias Cepeda of Foxsports about his decision to come back to competition Jiu-Jitsu:
“Competition is something I’ve been missing,”
“I’ve always found it easier to train for something. I had been enjoying myself with training and my body had healed to the point where I was training three to four times a week again. I thought that if I was already training this much that I’d love to test myself, that I’d love to have something to work towards.”
When you’re competing, you put your training under a magnifying glass. You see more clearly what you are doing well and what you are doing poorly. I also wanted to see how I responded to a pressure situation.”
Photo: Leon Sandoval www.heyleon.com, Instagram @heyleonmedia and Facebook.com/heyleonmedia
On his experience competing at the New York IBJJF Open:
“It was chaotic the day of. I showed up to the wrong side of the building, then I had people asking me for photos and autographs (laughs). It was good, it was fun, but I was trying to get to my match and I got to the mat late and was about to be disqualified,”
“None of that affected me, though, in the match. I felt good. I felt fine during the match.”
Florian lost his match by a controversial decision from the referee who seemed to have made a mistake when attributing points. Nevertheless Florian plans to compete again soon:
I do plan to compete again. I want to do the world championships, gi and no-gi at the end of the year, in my division – either Masters 1 or Masters 2.”
