The Ultimate Fighter's live season finale has always had a certain significance for Kenny Florian.
The Boston native made his official UFC debut eight years ago at TUF's first live season finale, losing to Diego Sanchez in the finals of that season's middleweight tournament. He returned to open the main card at the live finale of the second season, getting the first of seven UFC victories by rear naked choke when he submitted Kit Cope. He gave the same treatment to Sam "Hands of Stone" Stout at the third season finale, making his lightweight debut in the process.
So, it was only fitting that after seven years and 17 fights in the Octagon, Florian chose the weigh-in for Friday night's LIVE season finale of the 15th season of TUF to announce his retirement as a professional mixed martial artist. He'll call the event on Friday as part of the UFC's broadcast team alongside Jon Anik, but it will be his first official appearance as a retired fighter.
Florian goes into retirement as one of the greatest UFC fighters never to wear a championship belt in the promotion. He fought for the UFC Lightweight Championship twice - against Sean Sherk at UFC 64 in 2006 and again against BJ Penn at UFC 101 in 2009 - and also challenged Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 136 last fall. Those three fights and the loss to Sanchez account for four of his five losses in the UFC, along with a loss to Gray Maynard in August 2010. Simply put, Florian never lost to anyone who wasn't a champion or a No. 1 contender, and along the way, he scored memorable victories over fighters like Takanori Gomi, Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson and Roger Huerta.
While he didn't get a title for any of that work, "KenFlo" does have the unique distinction of being the only fighter in UFC history to compete in four different weight classes (middleweight, welterweight, lightweight and featherweight). He also secured 10 stoppages among his 12 UFC wins, including those seven rear-naked chokes.
Injuries played a primary role in Florian's decision, particularly a back injury suffered in training following his loss to Aldo, but the truth is that this was the right time for Florian to retire. That's not to say that there weren't compelling fights left for him, but with the lightweight division so jam-packed with talent, the odds were long on his working his way up to one more title shot. There wasn't much more for Florian to compete for other than the love of the sport, and he'll continue to show that as an announcer and a coach.
Kenny Florian was certainly a rare competitor, and Thursday, he showed himself to be among the most rare: the one who knows when it's time to leave.
