Dana White was critical of one fighter for not performing to the best of his ability when it mattered the most.
There are some athletes who are able to rise to the occasion and deliver the best versions of themselves under the brightest lights.
We recently saw this at UFC 320, where Alex Pereira avenged his loss to Magomed Ankalaev despite so many people believing that the result would be the same as their first encounter.
Some even questioned whether Ankalaev’s first title defense now ranked as one of the worst ever, with the Russian being stopped in just 80 seconds.
On this day in 2011, a fighter who was accused of not being himself in his biggest fights looked to finally end this narrative once and for all.
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Dana White claimed that Kenny Florian ‘choked’ in big fights before his decisive loss to Jose Aldo
At UFC 236 on October 8 of 2011, the co-main event saw Jose Aldo make the second defense of his UFC featherweight title.
His opponent was one of only two fighters in the history of the promotion who have competed in four different weight classes.
Kenny Florian had come up short on two previous occasions when challenging for the lightweight title.
After losing a lightweight title eliminator to Gray Maynard at UFC 118, Dana White had some honest reflections on the contender’s performance.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Gray but I just think Kenny is just one of those guys that chokes in big fights,” White told MMAWeekly. “I love Kenny, I’m not badmouthing him or trying to disrespect him, I’m just being honest.”
“Every time it’s a big fight and there’s a lot of things on the line, Kenny’s just… Kenny’s Florian’s hands are unbelievable,” White continued. “Kenny Florian’s ground is unbelievable. Kenny Florian usually kicks guys to the body and the legs so hard that he busts guys up, you didn’t see any of that tonight. He stood there and stared at Gray Maynard for three rounds.”
Florian, who recently watched his former training partner beat Aldo, was defeated by the Brazilian legend in decisive fashion.
He lost 49-46 across all three scorecards to mark his third unsuccessful attempt at becoming a UFC champion.
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Kenny Florian retired after his third title fight loss at UFC 136
After being beaten by Jose Aldo at UFC 136, Kenny Florian still planned to return to the Octagon despite considering retirement.
This decision was eventually made for him after several health issues prevented him from coming back.
While he didn’t expect an injury to his back to be a major setback, Florian had been suffering from several issues with his right leg following the fight that stopped him from training.
In May of 2012, Florian announced, having been advised by multiple doctors, that he would be retiring from competition.