Kenny Florian, a Dover, Mass., native who earned an impressive victory over Clay Guida Saturday night in the lightweight division, will take time off to recharge before getting back in the gym with his coaches - Firas Zahabi, his brother Keith Florian, and boxing specialist Peter Welch.

Florian, 33, clearly had a different game plan than he had in losing to UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn in August. (Penn retained the championship belt Saturday with a dominating performance over Diego Sanchez.) Although he started cautiously, Florian adjusted and went after Guida, who tapped out at 2:19 of the second round as a result of a rear naked choke.

In the first round, Florian, who is known for razor-sharp elbows, opened a deep gash in Guida’s scalp, causing profuse bleeding.

In the second, Florian followed with a strike to Guida’s chin that dropped him to the floor of the octagon, where he was finished off.

“[It] was my night,’’ said Florian. “Clay Guida is a phenomenal fighter. I wanted to go out there and take my time. Peter Welch and Firas Zahabi really improved my striking. I’m trying to get better, I want another shot at the title.’’

Florian’s enhanced boxing skills were evident throughout the fight.

“I wanted to get in there and trade a little bit and put on a good show for the fans, and really implement my game,’’ he said. “I wanted to be aggressive and get back to being the Kenny Florian that people know me for.’’

The strategy was to chip away at Guida using short strikes, which worked.

“I wanted to get them in tight,’’ said Florian. “That was kind of the theme for this fight. It was an elbow that really cut him very bad inside. The key really was mixing it up on Clay.

“I was able to do that and I caught him with a nice elbow that cut him open and rocked him, and the finisher was a strike that set up the big right hook. It was a short right hook that caught him right on the button. He went face-first into the canvas and I knew it was my time to capitalize.’’

UFC president Dana White’s next event is UFC 108 in Las Vegas Jan. 2, but because Massachusetts has become the latest state to regulate mixed martial arts, the former Boston resident already is plotting a card for the Hub in August.

“To try to explain to you in words how excited I am to go to Boston, I couldn’t,’’ said White. “It’s really important to me and it means a lot. I’m excited to go to Boston Garden. I’ve even toyed with Fenway Park and Fenway loves the idea. I’m going to bring a sick, sick fight card to Boston. I’m going to do some serious [stuff], stuff I haven’t done anywhere else because it’s a big deal for me. It’s going to be a big splash.’’

He said he expects nothing less than an enthusiastic response.

“The great thing about Boston and New England is, Boston pulls [fans] from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island. People will come in from New Jersey and New York.

“All those people will come to that fight plus the people who come from all over the world. It’s going to be a crazy event. We’ll be there in the summertime. It’s going to be great.’’

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.