Ken Flo is Machida 2.0
By MMA Opinion on Aug 10, 2008
Will other fighters begin to pay attention to Lyoto Machida’s strategy?
“He fought a smart fight, a very technical fight,”
Roger stated during post fight interview. He also admitted to going back to his old habits after the 1st round. To his credit Roger Huerta continued to chase Florian but every time he got within striking range Kenny made Roger pay for it with punches, kicks, one grazing elbow, knees, a flying knee and a great front kick to the jaw.
What I really liked about Florian’s brilliant technical-elusive-performance was his output. Florian could have pressed the action a little bit more but he did more than enough to hurt and frustrate Huerta. Just like Machida, he imposed his style and game plan on his opponent. I appreciate Florian a bit more simply because he offers more offense. Kenny Florian did not stray from his game plan, his comfort zone, which is very important in a fight game. So should other fighters take note and consider working on their footwork, position and angles when standing up? Or should fools rush in and the suffer the fate of presenting easy punching targets a-la Chris Leban vs Anderson Silva, Houston Alexander vs James Irvin and Rob Emerson vs Manvel Gamburyan?
Vee can also be found writing and drawing for Scritch and Scratch, a blog about Drawings, Doodles & Illustrations.
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And like Machida, Florian is taking a lot of heat from some viewers after last night’s fight. Was Florian scared of engaging with Huerta even after taking on other decent LW’s like Joe Lauzon and Din Thomas? I do see how he utilized a Machida-like game plan to attack Huerta, but he failed to do what he promised everyone; finish the fight. I can’t knock him for utilizing a game plan to defeat Huerta, but I am disappointed that he couldn’t find a way to finish Huerta while had his back. Maybe Huerta is just a tad better than we expected or maybe Florian isn’t always exciting.