Kenny Florian has been a familiar site competing inside the UFC’s Octagon for years now since breaking through as a finalist on the first ever season of The Ultimate Fighter, but these days we’re more used to seeing him in a broadcasting role, co-hosting on show’s like ‘UFC Tonight’ and doing color-commentary for the ‘UFC On Fuel TV’ and ‘UFC On FX’ shows.
The reason for that is that his career is now very much at a crossroads due to a back injury he suffered in training which has put his chances of competing again in jeopardy.
The 35 year-old has been out of action since an unsuccessful big to take the featherweight title from Jose Aldo back in October, and in a new interview with FightHub.TV he reveals that if things don’t improve he could be forced to hang up his gloves within months.
“These next couple of months are important and are probably going to be the deciding factor in whether I can come back or not,” Florian says as he prepares to step up his training in order to test whether the herniated disc in his lower back is still an issue.
Understandably Florian confesses that it’s a concerning time for him as he faces the possibility of ending his fighting career prematurely.
“It’s extremely hard. This has been my life for the last seven or eight years. This is all I’ve done. I dedicated my life and my body to this sport, literally, and it’s all I really wanted to do. I can’t tell you how many things I sacrificed to be where I’m at, whether it’s missed holidays or lost relationships because, not only did I have to train, but I wanted to.”
In many ways Florian has landed lucky though as he’s now becoming an integral part of the UFC’s machine beyond just being a fighter which will ensure he remains gainfully employed for the foreseeable future in a capicity that many others can only dream of, but nevertheless this would be an unfortunate end to his career and we certainly hope that he does get some positive results in the gym and is able to come back and fight again before retiring.
Watch more of the interview with Florian below.
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