The fight of his life
Kenny Florian of Dover is on the brink of ultimate fighting stardom. But one fight remains
With a swift elbow strike inside an octagon-shaped cage last fall, Kenny Florian clinched the opportunity of a lifetime. And so, before a national television audience this past Saturday, he would become a champion or simply go home to Massachusetts.
The 28-year-old from Dover landed the winning blow during his semifinal fight on ''The Ultimate Fighter" reality show, which was taped last fall and aired three weeks ago on Spike TV. Florian, a Boston College graduate who quit his cushy job translating financial documents to be a fighter, fell to his knees when the referee stopped the fight and awarded him the victory.
The win put Florian into ''The Ultimate Fighter" finals in Las Vegas.
The show began with 16 men who fought one another to elimination. After two months, four fighters -- two in each weight class -- remained. The finalists fought Saturday night in two bouts broadcast live on Spike TV. Each winner received a $150,000 contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, an unprecedented jumpstart into the major leagues of mixed martial arts, a hybrid sport of different combat styles.
A sudden rush of opportunity took Florian from intimate training gyms around Boston to the middle of the most-watched event in UFC history. In the middleweight final Saturday night, Florian faced Diego Sanchez.
It was the fight of Kenny Florian's life.
MONDAY-- Leaving for Las Vegas
5:45 p.m. -- Florian arrives at Boston Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Watertown for a final day of training before Saturday's fight. Florian has trained with one of his five siblings, Keith, for nearly eight years. As Kenny's corner man, Keith shouts tips to his brother in Spanish and Portuguese so the opposition won't pick up on them during a fight.
''Everyone thinks he's going to lose," Keith says of his brother, who is smaller and less experienced than the opponent he'll face Saturday. ''But Kenny's been training like a monster. I really don't understand how he's going to lose."
6:15 p.m. -- Light training begins. Florian finished his most intense training a month ago, and calls these troubleshooting sessions with Keith ''sharpening the blade."
While sparring, the Florians constantly refer to ''he," what ''he" likes to do. ''He" is Diego Sanchez, a 22-year-old from Albuquerque who dominated opponents on ''The Ultimate Fighter" en route to the finals. Florian has videos of all of Sanchez's fights and has studied them intensely.
''You can just see the way he thinks," Florian says. ''It's always so linear. He's never had his back against the wall."
Florian is confident he can poke holes in Sanchez's repertoire. He can win three ways: knockout, submission, or a judge's decision after three 5-minute rounds. Asked about Sanchez's punching power, Florian begins a detailed analysis, but soon trails off and stares at the floor contemplatively. ''He's dangerous," he says.
6:45 p.m. -- During a break in training, Florian muses about the media attention he's received since clinching a spot in the finals. One radio interviewer said the 155-pound Florian looked ''more like a frat boy than a fighter," and teased him about being from Dover, one of the wealthiest communities in Massachusetts. Florian says his appearance and background is an advantage because it leads opponents to underestimate him.
''I have a quiet confidence," Florian says. ''The most important element of a fighter is what you can't see, his heart. You can't teach heart. You can't teach somebody to weather a storm and come back and be ready to die on the mat. I believe that I'm never going to give up. The thought doesn't even come into my mind."
8:50 p.m. -- Kenny is greeted at the door of the Florian home in Dover by the squeaky voices of his young nephews. They are children of his older sister, Kara. ''See you in Vegas, buddy," she says on her way out. ''I can't wait. I can't breathe right before your fights, but I can't wait."
Florian sits at the kitchen table with an avocado and chicken. He eats with his face close to the plate, perhaps blushing, as his parents, who immigrated to the United States from Peru 20 years ago, sing his praises.
''He's very technical, and that's what I like about Kenny -- he's a tough kid," says his father, Augustin, a surgeon at New England Medical Center and a black belt in judo. Augustin encouraged his five boys to learn martial arts because ''there's a lot of bullies in school." But he never expected fighting would reach this level.
Three weeks ago, the family gathered around the television to watch Florian's semifinal fight on Spike TV. They knew he had won; they just didn't know what damage he suffered in the process (he had a small cut under the eye).
''What did I feel? Tense, nervous," says Kenny's mother, Ines. ''Because I don't like this. No, not at all. I'm always afraid. I didn't train my children to do that, especially this child that always smiles."
9:15 p.m. -- Florian does some final packing in his bedroom with the help of his fiancée, Ana Maranini, whom he met two years ago while competing in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in Brazil. She slips him pieces of a protein bar as he sorts through fight DVDs he'll take to Las Vegas.
''I'd be lying if I said I didn't have problems falling asleep," Florian says. ''Something that seemed so far away, so unattainable years ago, right now is in the palm of my hand. The path is laid out, and all I have to do is just walk it. It gets scary because everything is so perfect right now. And when you go in the ring, nothing's perfect."
''Why not?" Maranini asks from across the room. ''It can be perfect."
''Well, it can, but you don't know what's going to happen out there," Florian says. ''There's millions of ways to lose and win and scenarios that could happen. That's scary to me. The things I can't control."
TUESDAY -- Las Vegas
12:30 p.m. -- Kenny and Keith land in Las Vegas and check into the Hard Rock Hotel. They nap and adjust to the time change and dry weather. The next three days are a haze of photo shoots, interviews, and workouts.
FRIDAY -- The weigh-in
10:30 a.m. -- Florian's father, brother, and sister arrive in Las Vegas to see the fight. His mom stays home.
4:35 p.m. -- Florian is three seats from his opponent in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Hotel, where UFC officials are preparing the official weigh-in.
''I'm just prepared for anything," Sanchez says within earshot of Florian. ''Wherever, whatever. It's the biggest opportunity of my life."
UFC's president, Dana White, remembers that Florian was selected for the reality show after he impressed spectators in a tough fight against an opponent White happened to be scouting last summer in Revere.
''Kenny's not even supposed to be here," White says. ''He wasn't supposed to be in the finals, and he's not supposed to beat Diego Sanchez. He's been the underdog this whole time. I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way."
6:30 p.m. -- Florian sits down to dinner in a restaurant with his family and trainer. They joke chronically about the events of the day. Belly laughs overtake the table, at times making a waiter hesitant to interrupt. The only moment of the dinner without smiles is when Florian's father says grace.
''I pray for Kenny, for him to have the strength he needs tomorrow," Augustin says, drawing a chorus of ''Amen." Laughs then take over as daylight fades.
9:10 p.m. -- Florian and family take in the flashing neon night along Las Vegas Boulevard. Carefree joking has now taken such a firm hold that one might forget there's a big fight tomorrow.
''That's what you try to do," says Mark DellaGrotte of Somerville, Florian's longtime kickboxing coach. ''If you think about the fight round the clock, you're already taxing your body."
Beginning to tire, the Florians call it a night. As they wait for a taxi back to their hotel, Keith slaps his brother on the shoulders and loosens them. Smiles give way to quieted dispositions.
SATURDAY -- Fight night
6:35 p.m. -- Florian whisks through the curtain and makes his way to the cage, slapping the hands of some of the 2,000 fans packing the Coxwood Pavilion. A television crowd in excess of 2 million people watch his entrance on Spike TV.
Florian enters the cage, does some warmup leaps, and blesses himself. His brother Keith and two trainers shout encouragement from the other side of the cage. He paces back and forth and punches himself in the temples waiting for the fight to begin.
6:40 p.m. -- The fight begins. Florian and Sanchez circle each other, waiting for the other to act. After one minute, Sanchez charges and pushes Florian up against the cage. Sanchez takes Florian to the ground, mounts his torso, and rains down punches. Florian puts up a brief resistance but is soon cut and bleeding heavily from the nose, obstructing his vision. The referee decides Florian has had enough, and pulls off Sanchez, who is declared the winner. The fight lasts 2 minutes and 49 seconds.
Florian's brother and trainers race into the cage to tend to him. A doctor treats Florian's nose and helps him back to his feet. Blood drips from Florian's face onto his foot as Sanchez celebrates with Florian's blood stained on his shoulder.
''Hold your head up high!" DellaGrotte shouts to Florian. ''You're a warrior! You're a professional! This is what you do!"
7:05 p.m. -- Florian sits dejected in a chair backstage, his brother dabbing blood off his broken nose.
''Disappointed, I'm extremely disappointed," Florian says. ''He hit me with a shot. I remember seeing him for like a second, and then all of a sudden . . . just brown and red. I was feeling physically fine. I couldn't see where anything was. I was seeing lights, that's all, like someone was putting a blanket over my eye."
12:05 a.m. --Florian wears a frown and a bandage covering 11 stitches on the bridge of his nose as he and his family enter a restaurant for a quick meal. Seated in the restaurant are Sanchez, uninjured, and his family. Sanchez stands and embraces Florian. They whisper words of respect into each other's ears as Florian's family mingles with Sanchez's.
Distant are the dinner-table laughs of the night before as the Florians sit down. Kenny orders a chocolate milkshake.
''That's it, live to fight another day," Keith says to Kenny after a discussion of the fight. ''Now we just train for another day."
Kenny, his fiancée resting her head on his shoulder, twiddles his fork and stares silently at the dinner table. 